Bourses off from highs in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed some of their gains but continued to trade in green in late afternoon session led by gains in IT sector’s stocks. Traders took note of report that president Droupadi Murmu during the joint session of the Parliament said that the BJP-led NDA government has given importance to all the three pillars of the economy -- Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services. She said that India is emerging as a leader in every sector from IT to tourism and from health to wellness. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as China industrial profits data disappointed and the yen's slide past 160-per-dollar prompted fears of government intervention. European markets were trading mostly in red with technology stocks likely to come under selling pressure as memory chip major Micron's in-line revenue guidance disappointed investors who had expected more.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79007.94, up by 333.69 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 78467.34 and 79240.08. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.23%, while Small cap index was down by 0.91%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.28%, IT up by 1.24%, Telecom up by 0.80%, Power up by 0.49% and Utilities was up by 0.22%, while Industrials down by 0.74%, Capital Goods down by 0.61%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.48%, Consumer Durables down by 0.48% and Metal was down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.68%, NTPC up by 1.77%, JSW Steel up by 1.73%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.53% and TCS up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.31%, Sun Pharma down by 0.77%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.55%, SBI down by 0.46% and ITC down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Bank in its latest report has said that India received $120 billion in remittances in 2023, which is almost twice as $66 billion received by Mexico during the same period. It said remittances to India are forecast to grow at 3.7 per cent to $124 billion in 2024, and at 4 per cent to reach $129 billion in 2025. It noted that India’s efforts to link its Unified Payments Interface with source countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Singapore are expected to reduce costs and speed up remittances. 

The report said growing at 7.5 per cent, remittance flows to India touched $120 billion in 2023, reflecting the benefits of a deceleration in inflation and strong labour markets in the United States, the largest destination for India’s skilled migrants, and other OECD destinations, as well as positive demand for skilled and less-skilled workers in the GCC countries (which, together, are the second-largest destination for Indian migrants).

According to the report, remittance flows to India from the United Arab Emirates, which account for 18 per cent and are the second-largest source of India’s remittances after the United States, benefited from the February 2023 agreement. The latter established a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions and cooperation for interlinking payment and messaging systems between India and the United Arab Emirates. It added that the use of dirhams and rupees in cross-border transactions is instrumental in channelling more remittances through formal channels. In addition to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar account for 11 per cent of India’s total remittances.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23948.00, up by 79.20 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 23805.40 and 24036.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were LTIMindtree up by 3.36%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.88%, Grasim Industries up by 2.86%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.44% and Wipro up by 2.44%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 1.42%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.33%, Coal India down by 1.28%, ONGC down by 1.14% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 373.46 points or 2.11% to 17,716.47, Nikkei 225 slipped 325.53 points or 0.83% to 39,341.54, Taiwan Weighted lost 80.71 points or 0.35% to 22,905.98, Shanghai Composite weakened 26.68 points or 0.91% to 2,945.85 and KOSPI was down by 7.99 points or 0.29% to 2,784.06. On the flip side, Straits Times rose 9.23 points or 0.28% to 3,340.93 and Jakarta Composite was up by 47.02 points or 0.68% to 6,952.66.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.87 points or 0.14% to 8,213.46 and France’s CAC was down by 18.42 points or 0.24% to 7,590.73. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was up by 12.84 points or 0.07% to 18,168.08.