Post Session: Quick Review

After scaling new high levels in early trades, Indian equity markets traded in fine fettle throughout the day and ended with gains of over half a percent. Sensex crossed 80,000 level and Nifty surpassed 24,300 mark for the first time during today trade. In last leg of trade, markets maintained their gains near fresh high levels. Banking sector stocks gave powerful performance during the day. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index also witnessed healthy buying. In stock specific, shares of HDFC Bank remained in limelight during the day. 

Markets made gap-up opening and continued their trade higher tracking overnight strong gains on Wall Street on growing optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September. Traders took some encouragement with Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, forecast reaching a $4 trillion GDP milestone this year, outpacing global growth rates. Some support also came as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the southwest monsoon covered the entire country on Tuesday, six days ahead of its normal date, boosting prospects of kharif sowing. In afternoon session, markets continued their gaining momentum, as sentiments remained upbeat after the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 60.5 in June from 60.2 in May. Further, the HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- also surged to 60.9 in June as against 60.5 in May. Besides, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that the volume of world merchandise trade turned up in the first quarter of 2024 after remaining flat throughout 2023. In late afternoon session, markets added more points as investors continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as investors welcomed dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and looked ahead to the second round of the French vote and national elections in the UK. Asian markets ended mostly in green following fresh records on Wall Street after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell fanned hopes of an interest rate cut by saying the battle against inflation had made ‘progress’ and the job market was cooling. Back home, the commerce ministry is developing a platform for registering non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters and taking up with the concerned countries for their resolution. At present, there is an information gap on these barriers particularly for small items.

The BSE Sensex ended at 79,986.80, up by 545.35 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 79,754.95 and 80,074.30. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.86%, while Small cap index was up by 0.86%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.75%, PSU up by 1.67%, Telecom up by 1.44%, Industrials up by 1.09% and Capital Goods was up by 0.98%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.39%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.14%, HDFC Bank up by 2.12%, Axis Bank up by 1.93% and Indusind Bank up by 1.78%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.20%, Titan Company down by 1.07%, Reliance Industries down by 0.74%, Tata Motors down by 0.33% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.26% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over the India’s economic growth prospects, Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, has forecasted reaching a $4 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) milestone this year, outpacing global growth rates. Currently, in US dollar terms, India is the fifth largest economy with a size of about $3.7 trillion in nominal terms.

He highlighted India’s ambitious goal to surpass the $4 trillion GDP mark and solidify its position as the world’s fastest-growing economy. He stated ‘This year, India’s GDP will reach $4 trillion, putting us on par with Japan in terms of economic size. We continue to lead as the world’s fastest-growing economy by a significant margin. Last year, our growth rate surprised us at 8.2 per cent, and we anticipate over 7 per cent growth this year, outpacing all major economies’. He emphasized the compounding effects of India’s growth rate, noting the rapid pace at which economic milestones have been achieved.

Sanyal said ‘After liberalization, it took us 16-17 years to cross the first trillion dollars mark. It took another 7 years to reach the 2 trillion dollars mark, which happened in 2014-15. It took another 7 years to hit the 3 trillion dollars mark in 2021-22. It should have taken 5 years, but we lost 2 years because of COVID-19. In just 3 years, we will cross 4 trillion dollars. Now we will need only 2 years to cross 5 trillion dollars unless some major unseen shock happens.’

He underscored the importance of maintaining macroeconomic stability, addressing non-performing assets in banks, bureaucratic reforms, enhancing global trade engagement, and investing in sustainable energy through renewables and green technologies. He also critiqued global ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards, expressing skepticism about their imposition without fair consultations by North Atlantic agencies.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24,286.50, up by 162.65 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 24,207.10 and 24,309.15. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer up by 3.74%, Adani Ports up by 2.43%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.32%, HDFC Bank up by 2.20% and Axis Bank up by 2.12%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.30%, Titan Company down by 1.16%, Reliance Industries down by 0.81%, Tata Motors down by 0.58% and Hindalco down by 0.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 50.87 points or 0.62% to 8,172.07, France’s CAC rose 102.7 points or 1.34% to 7,640.99 and Germany’s DAX was up by 183.48 points or 1% to 18,347.54.