Benchmarks extend gains in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains in late morning deals, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the lending rates unchanged at 6.5% for an eighth straight time. The RBI has also announced an increase in the projected real GDP growth for the financial year 2024-25, setting it at 7.2%, up from the previous estimate of 7%. Some support also came as Fitch Ratings projects that the election losses will not prompt major policy shifts. Instead, the upcoming budget in July is likely to offer clearer insights into the government’s economic reform strategies and fiscal objectives for the next five years. Traders also took a note of credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research's (Ind-Ra) report stated that the improving liquidity outlook is expected to benefit commercial paper (CP) issuances over the coming months and reverse the decline seen in April 2024. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red ahead of a key US jobs reading that’s likely to guide the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75807.06, up by 732.55 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 74941.88 and 75892.46. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.70%, while Small cap index was up by 1.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.93%, TECK up by 2.23%, Telecom up by 1.46%, Consumer Durables up by 1.32% and Metal up by 1.14%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 5.20%, Infosys up by 3.36%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.33%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.90% and Tata Steel up by 2.33%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.28%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.27%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.13%, ITC down by 0.10% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the improving liquidity outlook is expected to benefit commercial paper (CP) issuances over the coming months and reverse the decline seen in April 2024. 

According to the report titled ‘CP Maturity Tracker - June 2024: Improving Liquidity Outlook to Boost CP Issuances’, the decrease in both value and number of issuers was largely attributable to seasonality after a surge in activity which is typical of the March quarter, while the increase in market activity amid improving liquidity could aid issuers to raise higher value CPs in the upcoming months.

Meanwhile, corporates raised Rs 30,900 crore in May through commercial papers, higher than Rs 28,400 crore in April. Together, non-banking financial companies and housing finance companies issued commercial papers worth Rs 52,400 crore. The total number of issuers for whom commercial papers are maturing in the next three months is 205; of which the top 10 issuers account for Rs 1.2 trillion. The remaining 53% of the total aggregate amount is accounted by the balance commercial paper issuances.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23032.20, up by 210.80 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 22789.05 and 23059.45. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 5.10%, LTIMindtree up by 3.58%, Infosys up by 3.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.28% and Bajaj Finance up by 3.02%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.99%, Britannia Industries down by 0.52%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.44%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.32% and Indusind Bank down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 84.61 points or 0.46% to 18,392.19, Jakarta Composite plunged 39.64 points or 0.57% to 6,935.26, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.1 points or 0.36% to 3,037.69, Nikkei 225 slipped 85.86 points or 0.22% to 38,617.65 and Taiwan Weighted lost 31.68 points or 0.14% to 21,871.02.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 15.39 points or 0.46% to 3,346.20 and KOSPI increased 26.59 points or 0.99% to 2,716.09.