Domestic indices remain higher in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets remained in green and were trading higher by over half a percent on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 1.40-2.35%. Sentiments got boost as the Reserve Bank said India's forex reserves increased by $140 million to touch its all-time high of $642.631 billion during the week ended March 22. This is the fifth consecutive week of a jump in the overall reserves. The kitty had increased by $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion in the previous reporting week. Further, support also came in as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's gross domestic product (GDP) is on track to grow by 8% or more in the quarter ending March 31 2024. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed despite China’s National Bureau of Statistics data showed that manufacturing activity expanded in March, with the purchasing managers index registering a reading of 50.8, compared to February’s reading of 49.1. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading green led by Realty, Metal, Utilities, Basic Materials and Telecom. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74075.88, up by 424.53 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 73943.15 and 74254.62. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.42%, while Small cap index up by 2.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.59%, Metal up by 2.64%, Utilities up by 2.35%, Basic Materials up by 2.26% and Telecom up by 2.08%, while there were no losing indices.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 4.75%, Tata Steel up by 3.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.96%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.54% and Tata Motors up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Titan down by 0.85%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.81%, Nestle down by 0.70%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.36% and Reliance Industries down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries posted a growth of 6.7 per cent in February 2024 as compared to 4.1 per cent in January 2024, led by double-digit upticks in coal, natural gas and cement. The output of core sectors was 7.4 per cent in February 2023. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 10.2 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 9.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 11.6 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 12.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Crude oil production, having 8.98 per cent increased by 7.9 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 0.5 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Electricity generation, having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 6.3 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 6.8 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Natural Gas production, having 6.88 per cent increased by 11.3 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 6.0 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Petroleum Refinery production, having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 2.6 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 3.8 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. 

Steel production, having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 8.4 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023 and its cumulative index increased by 12.9 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. However, Fertilizers production, having 2.63 per cent weight declined by 9.5 per cent in February 2024 over February, 2023, while its cumulative index increased by 4.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22481.75, up by 154.85 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 22443.35 and 22529.95. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 4.99%, Tata Steel up by 3.30%, Shriram Finance up by 2.40%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.26% and Adani Ports up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 0.96%, Titan down by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.74%, Nestle down by 0.70% and Tata Consumer down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 566.35 points or 1.4% to 39,803.09, Taiwan Weighted lost 72.12 points or 0.36% to 20,222.33 and Jakarta Composite plunged 127.31 points or 1.78% to 7,161.50. However, Straits Times rose 11.73 points or 0.36% to 3,235.74, KOSPI increased 2.02 points or 0.07% to 2,748.65 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.95 points or 0.75% to 3,064.12.