Sensex, Nifty turn positive in early afternoon deals

A heavy buying at Metal, Utilities and Power counters helped Indian equity benchmarks to turn positive in early afternoon deals, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders got relief, after the EPFO’s provisional payroll data showed that EPFO has added 14.41 lakh net members in the month of March, 2024. The data indicates that around 7.47 lakh new members have been enrolled during March 2024. A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 56.83% of the total new members added in March 2024 indicating the majority of individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.

Adding more optimism among market participants, a report stated that the finance ministry is likely to raise the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) dividend estimates by Rs 5,000 crore to around Rs 53,000 crore for the current fiscal in the full budget to be presented in July. In the interim budget 2024-25, the government had pegged dividend estimates from non-financial CPSEs at Rs 48,000 crore for the current fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, after South Korea's consumer sentiment decreased in May to the lowest level in six months. The survey results from the Bank of Korea showed that the consumer confidence index dropped to 98.4 in May from April's stable score of 100.7. Further, this was the weakest reading since November 2023, when it was 97.3. The consumer confidence survey was conducted between May 7 and 14 among 2,313 households.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74036.47, up by 30.53 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 73762.37 and 74065.66. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.14%, while Small cap index was down by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.59%, Utilities up by 2.36%, Power up by 1.92%, PSU up by 1.88% and Basic Materials up by 1.52%, while FMCG down by 0.74%, IT down by 0.63%, TECK down by 0.26%, Realty down by 0.08% and Healthcare down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 3.33%, Tata Steel up by 3.28%, Power Grid up by 2.11%, NTPC up by 1.53% and Asian Paints up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.81%, TCS down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.83%, HCL Tech. down by 0.75% and Infosys down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has recovered about Rs 852 crore under the amnesty scheme for exporters for one-time settlement of default in export obligation by the holders of advance and EPCG authorisations. The figures are likely to increase further as the exercise is on for the compilation of the data. The government has fixed March 31 as the last date for payment of customs duty plus interest. Under the scheme, 6,705 applications were filed and as per the provisional figures, an amount of about Rs 852 crore has been recovered. This figure is further expected to increase. Meanwhile, several small exporters have requested the government to continue the scheme for a one-time settlement of default in export obligation till September.

In the new foreign trade policy (FTP), the scheme was announced for exporters for one-time settlement of default in export obligation by the holders of advance and EPCG (export promotion for capital goods) authorisations. Under the scheme, all pending cases of the default in meeting export obligation (EO) of certain authorisations can be regularised by the authorisation holder on payment of all customs duties that were exempted in proportion to unfulfilled EO and interest at 100 per cent of such duties exempted.

According to government data, India's merchandise exports rose by 1 per cent to $34.99 billion in April, even as the trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $19.1 billion during the month. Imports also increased by 10.25 per cent to $54.09 billion in the month under review from $49.06 billion in April 2023 due to a significant jump in gold imports. The country's total exports in goods and services for 2023-24 stood at $778.21 billion, the highest so far. Merchandise exports in FY24 were aggregated at $437.1 billion, while services exports stood at $341.1 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22530.90, up by 28.90 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 22404.55 and 22549.80. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.53%, Hindalco up by 3.70%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.52%, JSW Steel up by 3.41% and Tata Steel up by 3.37%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.90%, TCS down by 0.96%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.94%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.85% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.83% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 426.74 points or 2.22% to 19,209.48, Nikkei 225 slipped 122.75 points or 0.32% to 38,946.93, Jakarta Composite plunged 54.51 points or 0.76% to 7,212.18, Taiwan Weighted lost 34.88 points or 0.16% to 21,236.75, KOSPI dropped 17.96 points or 0.66% to 2,724.18, Shanghai Composite weakened 16.69 points or 0.53% to 3,154.46 and Straits Times was down by 16.21 points or 0.49% to 3,297.84.