Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals, amid a rally in Asian markets, decline in Brent crude oil prices and buying by foreign investors. Sentiments remained positive with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the Centre has tailored policies to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing and services, and the aim was to produce not just for the domestic market but for exports as well. Some support also came as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stating that India's net direct tax collections surged by a massive 17.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 19.58 lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 2024, surpassing even revised estimates by a wide margin. Net collections of income and corporate taxes, which make up for most of the direct taxes, in 2023-24 financial year exceeded the Budget estimates by Rs 1.35 trillion (7.40 per cent) and the revised estimates by Rs 13,000 crore. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as Middle East tensions eased, and investors looked ahead to a slew of U.S. data due this week for additional clues on when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73359.21, up by 270.88 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 73227.32 and 73728.18. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.68%, while Small cap index was up by 1.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.33%, Realty up by 1.23%, Consumer Durables up by 1.19%, Capital Goods up by 1.13% and Oil & Gas up by 0.88%, while Telecom down by 0.27% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.30%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.98%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.91%, Axis Bank up by 1.69% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.60%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.37%, HDFC Bank down by 0.90%, JSW Steel down by 0.26%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.24% and ITC down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Centre has tailored policies to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing and services, and the aim was to produce not just for the domestic market but for exports as well.

Sitharaman stated ‘Policies have been made to attract investments. We want manufacturers and investors to come and produce not just for India but also for exports. We will try to attract manufacturers and investors through policies.’ Further, she added ‘When big companies show interest to come to India, we will do everything to make it attractive for them to come and invest. In that process, if there is anything to discuss, we will certainly discuss. But whatever we have done, we have done it through policy.'

Asserting the Union government's approach has helped especially after China plus one started being a concern for many industry experts, she said policies have been tailored in such a way so as to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing and for services. Talking about inflation, she said it never crossed the tolerance band, except for one month, under the Narendra Modi government, whereas before that (pre-2014) the economy was in a bad shape and inflation was in double digits. At that time (pre 2014) nobody had any expectations from the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22251.45, up by 104.45 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 22198.15 and 22337.10. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.60%, Wipro up by 2.37%, Shriram Finance up by 2.27%, Eicher Motors up by 2.14% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.99%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.30%, HDFC Bank down by 0.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.22%, JSW Steel down by 0.21% and ITC down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 244.94 points or 0.66% to 37,313.29, Hang Seng advanced 282.52 points or 1.71% to 16,506.66, Straits Times rose 43.82 points or 1.38% to 3,220.33 and KOSPI increased 25.90 points or 1% to 2,617.76. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 48.44 points or 0.68% to 7,038.88, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.37 points or 0.47% to 3,050.89 and Taiwan Weighted lost 42.24 points or 0.22% to 19,484.88.