Benchmarks continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains but continued to trade in green in morning deals, amid firm global market trends and buying in NTPC, Asian Paints and ITC. Traders took some support as the Export-Import Bank of India forecast India’s merchandise exports to grow 12.3% on-year at $116.7 billion in the April-June quarter of FY25, on strong economic fundamentals and sustained manufacturing and services activity. Some support also came with a private report that India’s retail market is poised to surpass $2.2 trillion by 2030, with approximately 90 per cent of sales expected to occur offline. The report also finds that a substantial portion of all purchases will be influenced by what consumers see online. However, gains remain capped as some concern came with report that as India's general election reaches halfway, declining voter turnout sparks concerns about disengagement in the world's largest poll. The decrease raises questions about the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's support, causing uncertainty in financial markets. On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight as soft labor market data from the U.S. added to expectations for rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the coming months.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72586.36, up by 182.19 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 72366.29 and 72946.54. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.03%, Consumer Durables up by 1.02%, Metal up by 0.97%, Power up by 0.96% and FMCG up by 0.79%, while, IT down by 0.96%, TECK down by 0.49% and Realty down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.23%, Asian Paints up by 2.02%, ITC up by 1.88%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.82% and JSW Steel up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.40%, TCS down by 0.87%, HCL Technologies down by 0.65%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.56% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency Icra has said that domestic tyre sale volumes are expected to see a moderate growth of 4-6 per cent this fiscal after witnessing an estimated pace of 6-8 per cent in the previous financial year. This growth in the last fiscal was driven by factors such as elevated base and subdued growth in the commercial vehicle (CV) segment.

However, Icra anticipates domestic demand from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in certain consumer segments like PV (passenger vehicle) and two-wheeler as well as for replacement to remain healthy, supporting overall tyre volume expansion in FY25. It stated while revenues are likely to expand by 5-7 per cent this fiscal, high natural rubber prices and increasing crude prices are likely to moderate the tyre industry's margins by 200-300 basis points (bps) in FY25.

The rating agency also said it expects the replacement market, which contributes to over two-thirds of the industry volumes, to remain stable, aided by healthy demand across the segments. Tyre export volumes, which contribute approximately 25 per cent of industry's sales (by value), are estimated to have recorded a low single-digit growth in FY24 after contracting by around 7 per cent in FY23, owing to demand shrinkage in key markets amid inflationary pressure and higher interest rates.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22020.00, up by 62.50 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 21950.30 and 22131.30. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.18%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.09%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.04%, NTPC up by 1.97% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.40%, LTIMindtree down by 1.24%, TCS down by 0.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.70% and Britannia Industries down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 67.26 points or 0.18% to 38,141.24, Taiwan Weighted added 203.01 points or 0.99% to 20,763.78, Hang Seng advanced 411.58 points or 2.22% to 18,949.39, Straits Times rose 26.05 points or 0.8% to 3,292.00, KOSPI increased 18.35 points or 0.68% to 2,730.49 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.32 points or 0.07% to 3,156.64.