Domestic indices trade higher with decent gains in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Tuesday amid mixed global cues. Domestic indices are trading higher with decent gains in early deals with buying in Industrials, Capital Goods and Bankex stocks. Positive economic data aided the market sentiments. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said India recorded a current account surplus of $5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of GDP in the March quarter. In the year-ago period, the current account deficit stood at $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP. It added for FY24, the current account deficit narrowed to $23.2 billion or 0.7 per cent of GDP against $67 billion or 2 per cent of GDP in FY23. However, upside remained capped as some cautiousness crept in amid concerns over rising oil prices and foreign fund outflows. Crude oil started on a strong note, rising 1.1 per cent on Monday, with WTI Crude Oil Futures settling above $81. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares amounting to Rs 653.97 crore on June 24. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders seemed cautious and reluctant to make significant moves ahead of some crucial economic data, including a report on US personal income & spending due later in the week. They also await comments from US Fed officials for additional clues on the outlook for interest rates. On the economic data front, the Bank of Japan said producer prices in Japan were down 0.1 percent on month in May. That follows the 0.7 percent monthly jump in April.

Back home, the telecom stocks are buzzing as the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will begin the auction of Rs 96,317.65 crore of spectrum on Tuesday. With telecom operators making the lowest earnest money deposit (EMD) in the last six auction rounds, and companies announcing they will mostly focus on spectrum renewals. In stock specific development, Borosil jumped after launching a QIP issue to raise up to Rs 250 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77610.42, up by 269.34 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 77459.60 and 77613.17. There were 15 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.90%, Capital Goods up by 0.80%, Bankex up by 0.67%, Telecom up by 0.65% and Auto up by 0.57%, while Realty down by 1.02%, IT down by 0.20% and Utilities down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 1.74%, HDFC Bank up by 1.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.81%, Axis Bank up by 0.79% and SBI up by 0.77%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 0.59%, Asian Paints down by 0.47%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.44%, NTPC down by 0.40% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its report on the Developments in India's Balance of Payments has said that India recorded a current account surplus of $5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the January-March quarter. In the year-ago period, the current account deficit stood at $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP, and the same was $8.7 billion or 1 per cent of GDP in the preceding quarter ending December 2023. For FY24, the current account deficit narrowed to $23.2 billion or 0.7 per cent of GDP against $67 billion or 2 per cent of GDP in FY23.

In January-March 2024, the merchandise trade deficit stood at $50.9 billion, lower than the $52.6 billion a year ago. It said net services receipts at $42.7 billion were higher than the $39.1 billion on the back of a 4.1 per cent growth in the segment, and added that this helped in swinging the current account into the surplus territory. Net outgo on the primary income account, mainly reflecting payments of investment income, increased to $14.8 billion from $12.6 billion a year ago.

Private transfer receipts, which mainly represent remittances by Indians employed overseas, grew 11.9 per cent to $32 billion in the March quarter. The non-resident deposits also surged to $5.4 billion in January-March compared to $3.6 billion in the year-ago period. Net foreign direct investment flows were $2 billion in Q4 FY24 against $6.4 billion a year ago. Foreign portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $11.4 billion during the quarter compared to a net outflow of $1.7 billion a year ago. Net inflows under external commercial borrowings to India were $2.6 billion against $1.7 billion. In FY24, the portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $44.1 billion against an outflow of $5.2 billion a year ago, while net FDI plummeted to $9.8 billion from $28 billion in FY23.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23615.70, up by 77.85 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 23571.05 and 23618.10. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 1.83%, Hindalco up by 1.38%, HDFC Bank up by 1.08%, Axis Bank up by 0.89% and Britannia Industries up by 0.84%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 0.64%, Asian Paints down by 0.51%, LTIMindtree down by 0.51%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.45% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.44% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 245.03 points or 0.63% to 39,049.68, Hang Seng advanced 74.95 points or 0.42% to 18,102.66, KOSPI increased 12.50 points or 0.45% to 2,777.23 and Straits Times was up by 7.09 points or 0.21% to 3,321.23. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted lost 88.86 points or 0.39% to 22,724.84, Jakarta Composite fell 27.42 points or 0.4% to 6,861.75 and Shanghai Composite was down by 11.15 points or 0.38% to 2,951.95.