Sensex, Nifty near day’s highs in early afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks gained traction in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday high points, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at banking counter. Sentiments were optimistic, as US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti said the relationship between India and the United States has reached unprecedented heights. Garcetti described the relationship as not just 'additive' but 'multiplicative'. Further, the finance ministry has called a meeting with heads of state-owned banks and financial institutions to review the progress of the government's flagship financial inclusion schemes such as the Jan Dhan Yojana, Jan Suraksha Yojana, and Mudra Yojana ahead of the budget.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as Taiwan's industrial production expanded at the fastest pace in four months on the back of strong manufacturing growth. The preliminary data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that industrial production advanced 16.06 percent year-on-year in May, extending from the 14.48 percent growth in April.

Back home, the telecom industry stocks were in watch as with an aim to augment existing telecom services and maintain continuity of services, the government is holding the spectrum auction on June 25, 2024.  This is in line with government’s commitment to facilitate affordable, state-of-art high quality telecom services to all the citizens.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77845.81, up by 504.73 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 77459.60 and 77855.00. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.56%, Capital Goods up by 0.41%, Industrials up by 0.40%, IT up by 0.21% and Telecom up by 0.19%, while Realty down by 1.90%, Metal down by 0.86%, Oil & Gas down by 0.74%, Utilities down by 0.56% and Energy down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.43%, HDFC Bank up by 2.15%, ICICI Bank up by 1.88%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.29% and SBI up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.07%, Nestle down by 0.87%, NTPC down by 0.83%, Tata Steel down by 0.79% and JSW Steel down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the continuation of countervailing or anti-subsidy duty on welded stainless steel pipes and tubes from China and Vietnam to guard domestic players. In a notification, the DGTR has said that there is a likelihood of injury to the domestic industry in the event of cessation of present countervailing duty on the imports from these two nations.

The DGTR has said the authority has reached a conclusion that the duty imposed on subject goods is required to be extended further. The authority recommends extension of countervailing duties on imports of the product under consideration. The directorate has recommended a duty of up to 29.88 per cent on the product. The finance ministry takes the final decision to impose this duty. 

In its probe, the DGTR has concluded that in case of cessation of anti-subsidy duty, the domestic industry is likely to incur financial losses. Chinese producers have excess capacities for the product and the demand for stainless steel has declined in China. The additional capacities of the Chinese producers are likely to be used exporting the subject goods to India once the duties ceased to exist.

Domestic players had filed the application in July 2023 for initiation of a sunset review of anti-subsidy duties imposed earlier and seeking continuation of the duties against imports of Welded stainless steel tubes and pipes from China and Vietnam. The revenue department had imposed the duty in September 2019. Subsidised exports impact the price of that product in the importing country, hitting the margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23663.40, up by 125.55 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 23562.05 and 23663.95. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.50%, HDFC Bank up by 2.18%, ICICI Bank up by 1.91%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.28% and SBI up by 1.20%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.03%, Coal India down by 1.54%, ONGC down by 1.48%, Eicher Motors down by 1.29% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 12.28 points or 0.37% to 3,326.42, KOSPI increased 9.66 points or 0.35% to 2,774.39, Nikkei 225 surged 368.5 points or 0.95% to 39,173.15 and Taiwan Weighted added 62.27 points or 0.27% to 22,875.97, while Hang Seng declined 28.23 points or 0.16% to 17,999.48, Jakarta Composite plunged 24.64 points or 0.36% to 6,864.53 and Shanghai Composite weakened 12.69 points or 0.43% to 2,950.41.