Indian markets continue to trade in green with marginal gains in early afternoon deals

Indian equity markets were trading in green terrain with marginal gains in early afternoon deals, amid positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Realty and Consumer Durables counters. Gains were limited in markets, amid a private report stating that India's economy is expected to have grown at a slower pace in the January-March quarter than the previous three months, dampened by a moderation in manufacturing and urban spending, but the street see economic momentum remaining strong in Asia's third-largest economy. Adding more anxiety among traders, the Reserve Bank's annual report showed that the number of frauds in the banking sector went up to 36,075 in 2023-24 year-on-year, but the amount involved reduced by 46.7 per cent to Rs 13,930 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after the manufacturing sector in China slipped into contraction territory in May, with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.5. That missed forecasts for a score of 50.5 and was down from 50.4 in April, and it moves beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 51.1, shy of expectations for 51.5 and down from 51.2 in the previous month. The composite PMI was 51.0 versus forecasts for 51.4 and down from 51.7 a month earlier.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74040.61, up by 155.01 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 73955.69 and 74478.89. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.74%, Utilities up by 0.70%, Basic Materials up by 0.65% and Metal up by 0.64%, while Healthcare down by 0.95%, PSU down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.24%, Telecom down by 0.24% and Consumer discretionary down by 0.20% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.68%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.56%, Tata Steel up by 1.40%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.29% and Titan up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.51%, NTPC down by 1.10%, Sun Pharma down by 1.10% and TCS down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in its latest data has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows in India declined 3.49 per cent to $44.42 billion in 2023-24 due to lower infusion in sectors such as services, computer hardware and software, telecom, auto and pharma. FDI inflows stood at $46.03 billion during 2022-23.

However, inflows during January-March FY24 rose by 33.4 per cent to $12.38 billion as against $9.28 billion in the year-ago period. The total FDI -- which includes equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital -- declined marginally by one per cent to $70.95 billion during 2023-24 as against $71.35 billion in 2022-23. In 2021-22, the country received the highest ever FDI inflows of $84.83 billion.

During the FY24, FDI equity inflows decreased from major countries, including Mauritius, Singapore, the US, the UK, UAE, Cayman Islands, Germany, and Cyprus. However, inflows increased from the Netherlands and Japan. Sectorally, inflows contracted in services, computer software and hardware, trading, telecommunication, automobile, pharma and chemicals. In contrast, construction (infrastructure) activities, development and power sectors registered healthy growth in inflows during the period under review. FDI equity inflows into India declined 22 per cent in 2022-23. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22516.10, up by 27.45 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 22495.85 and 22653.75. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.69%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.60%, Shriram Finance up by 1.60%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.53% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.24%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.82%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.46%, Divi's Lab down by 1.22% and Cipla down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 66.46 points or 0.36% to 18,296.65, Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.26 points or 0.01% to 3,091.94, Straits Times rose 8.95 points or 0.27% to 3,332.33, KOSPI increased 3.74 points or 0.14% to 2,639.18 and Nikkei 225 surged 433.77 points or 1.13% to 38,487.90, while Jakarta Composite plunged 44.98 points or 0.64% to 6,989.16 and Taiwan Weighted lost 190.26 points or 0.9% to 21,174.22.