Markets extend gains in early noon deals amid easing WPI inflation

Extending their gains, Indian equity benchmarks were trading near their intraday high points during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding strong gains, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at Telecom and Utilities counters. Sentiments remained optimistic, as inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased in the month of February 2024 to 0.20% from 0.27% in January, aided by decline in prices of non-food articles, coal, basic metals, other nonmetallic mineral products, fabricated metal products (except machinery & equipment), rubber & plastic products and printing & reproduction of recorded media etc. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green, as the Singapore economy is projected to expand slightly faster than previously estimated this year. According to the Survey of Professional Forecasters, released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, gross domestic product is forecast to grow 2.4 percent in 2024, slightly faster than 2.3 percent projected in the previous survey. For the next year, GDP growth is seen at 2.5 percent.

Back home, stocks related to electric vehicle companies were in watch, as the heavy industries ministry introduced a ‘Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024 (EMPS 2024) to further accelerate the adoption of electric vehicle (EV) in the country. This is a fund limited scheme with a total outlay of Rs 500 crore for the period of 4 months, with effect from April 1, 2024 till July 31, 2024, for faster adoption of electric two-wheeler (e-2W) and three-wheeler (e-3W) to provide further impetus to the green mobility and development of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing eco-system in the country. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.67%, while Small cap index was up by 2.72%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.85%, Utilities up by 2.41%, Power up by 2.15%, Industrials up by 2.14% and Basic Materials up by 2.03%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.81%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.60% and HCL Tech. up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.91%, JSW Steel down by 0.89%, Tata Motors down by 0.52%, Axis Bank down by 0.34% and NTPC down by 0.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that prices of petroleum products have come down in India when the global energy market is in turmoil. He said that there has been turmoil in the global energy markets. He said in India, prices of petrol and diesel have come down over the last two years. Prices increased in other countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and even in advanced countries.

The minister said India has diversified the sources of crude oil, hiked the use of alternate energy, increased exploration and production besides making a transition to electric vehicles. Through duty cuts, the government has foregone revenue to the tune of Rs 2.2 lakh crore. He said that oil PSUs have outperformed the Nifty index between 2014 and February 2024. He said ‘at the time of global turmoil, prices should have gone up. But it has actually come down’. He added that India will continue to import crude from sources which are cheap as 85 per cent of petro-products are imported.

He further said India has emerged now as a bright shot from being a fragile economy with rising GDP, falling inflation and a stable current account deficit. The country will soon be the third largest economy in the third term of the present dispensation. The government has been able to cut down on pilferage and waste of energy products.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22143.10, up by 145.40 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 21917.50 and 22204.60. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.28%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 4.42%, Hindalco up by 2.79%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.77% and Infosys up by 2.26%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.02%, Tata Steel down by 1.01%, NTPC down by 0.68%, Tata Motors down by 0.55% and SBI down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 9.41 points or 0.05% to 19,937.92, Jakarta Composite gained 2.51 points or 0.03% to 7,423.72, Straits Times rose 28.7 points or 0.91% to 3,189.42, KOSPI increased 25.19 points or 0.93% to 2,718.76 and Nikkei 225 surged 111.41 points or 0.29% to 38,807.38, while Hang Seng declined 144.85 points or 0.85% to 16,937.26 and Shanghai Composite weakened 5.6 points or 0.18% to 3,038.23.