Sensex, Nifty hold strong gains during early afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks were holding strong gains during early afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty gaining around 2% each, amid heavy buying at FMCG and Telecom counters along with positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained optimistic as a private report stated that India's economic fundamentals remain robust, after the results of the country's general elections paved the way for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third consecutive term in office. The Election Commission of India has declared results for all 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, with the BJP winning 240 seats and the Congress 99.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after China's service sector growth accelerated to a ten-month high in May on strong new business inflows. The survey results from S&P Global revealed that the Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 54.0 in May from 52.5 in the previous month. The score signaled that the sector expanded for a seventeenth consecutive month and at the strongest pace since July 2023.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73478.49, up by 1399.44 points or 1.94% after trading in a range of 71879.44 and 73851.09. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped by 2.98%, while Small cap index was up by 1.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 4.99%, Telecom up by 4.71%, Auto up by 3.50%, Consumer Disc up by 3.41% and Healthcare up by 3.28%, while Capital Goods down by 1.13%, PSU down by 0.42% and Industrials down by 0.38% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 6.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.82%, Asian Paints up by 4.10%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.77% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 3.73%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.80%, Power Grid down by 2.04%, SBI down by 0.96% and NTPC down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s services sector activity growth eased further during the month of May but remained comfortably above the neutral mark of 50.0, highlighting a sharp upturn in output. Robust increases in new business intakes continued to underpin output growth across India's service economy.

According to the survey report, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell to 60.2 in May from 60.8 in April. It was 61.2 in March. Further, the HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also eased to 60.5 in May as against 61.5 in April. The report further noted that amid favourable economic and demand conditions along with successful advertising, new orders rose at a substantial pace but the slowest in the calendar year-to-date as fierce competition and extreme heat across the country dampened growth. 

However, new export orders improved substantially in May, with growth climbing to the fastest seen since the inception of the series in September 2014. On the inflation front, both input costs and output charges rose to greater extents. As per the report, expectations that marketing efforts will bear fruit, coupled with improved customer engagement, demand strength and buoyant economic conditions boosted business confidence among service providers. The overall level of positive sentiment climbed to an eight-month high.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22330.90, up by 446.40 points or 2.04% after trading in a range of 21791.95 and 22445.00. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 6.29%, Hindustan Unilever up by 6.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 5.99%, Tata Consumer Products up by 5.75% and Asian Paints up by 4.18%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.84%, BPCL down by 2.76%, Power Grid down by 2.16%, SBI down by 0.98% and Grasim Industries down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 7.48 points or 0.04% to 18,451.59, Straits Times rose 2.45 points or 0.07% to 3,341.39, KOSPI increased 27.40 points or 1.02% to 2,689.50 and Taiwan Weighted added 128.26 points or 0.6% to 21,484.88, while Jakarta Composite plunged 101.24 points or 1.43% to 6,998.07, Shanghai Composite weakened 23.65 points or 0.77% to 3,067.55 and Nikkei 225 slipped 347.29 points or 0.9% to 38,490.17.