Indian markets near day’s highs amid strong manufacturing PMI data

Bulls have tightened their grip over the Dalal Street in early noon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday high points, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at Metal and Banking counters. Sentiments got a boost, after India's manufacturing sector continued growth momentum in the month of February, aided by growth in factory production and sales coupled with strongest expansion in new export orders. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.9 in February as against 56.5 in January, pointing the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since September 2023. Traders took a note of reports that the government's fiscal deficit at Rs 11 lakh crore at January end touched 63.6 per cent of the revised annual target. In the corresponding period last year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue was 67.8 per cent of Revised Estimates (RE) of the Union Budget 2022-23.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as the manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in February, and at a slightly faster rate, with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.9. That's up from 50.8 in January, and it moved further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73502.76, up by 1002.46 points or 1.38% after trading in a range of 72591.14 and 73574.02. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.75%, Bankex up by 1.79%, Capital Goods up by 1.74%, Oil & Gas up by 1.72% and Basic Materials up by 1.70%, while Healthcare down by 0.69%, IT down by 0.10%, TECK down by 0.01% and Realty down by 0.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.44%, JSW Steel up by 3.97%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.02%, Titan up by 2.93% and ICICI Bank up by 2.81%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 0.85%, Sun Pharma down by 0.33%, Infosys down by 0.30% and Wipro down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the eight core industries growth slowed to a 15-month low of 3.6 per cent in January 2024, on account of poor performance of sectors like refinery products and fertilizer. In December 2023, core sector growth had printed in at 4.9 percent. In January 2023, the core sector had grown by 9.7 per cent. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  

Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 5.6 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 9.0 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 10.2 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 12.2 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 7.0 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 13.1 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 5.2 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 6.8 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight increased by 5.5 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 5.6 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98 per cent weight increased by 0.7 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 while, its cumulative index declined by 0.2 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight declined by 4.3 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 3.9 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 per cent weight declined by 0.6 per cent in January, 2024 over January, 2023, while its cumulative index increased by 5.5 per cent during April to January, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22291.25, up by 308.45 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 22047.75 and 22304.00. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.37%, JSW Steel up by 4.09%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.25%, Hindalco up by 3.22% and Titan up by 2.98%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 0.65%, HCL Tech. down by 0.65%, Cipla down by 0.43%, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 0.42% and Sun Pharma down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 82.16 points or 0.5% to 16,593.60, Straits Times rose 0.82 points or 0.03% to 3,142.67, Shanghai Composite strengthened 6.26 points or 0.21% to 3,021.43 and Nikkei 225 surged 744.63 points or 1.87% to 39,910.82, while Taiwan Weighted lost 30.84 points or 0.16% to 18,935.93 and Jakarta Composite plunged 44.92 points or 0.62% to 7,271.19.