Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty -- ended Thursday’s trading session with minor gains on weekly F&O expiry day after hitting new all-time high level. Index made an optimistic start, as traders took some support with a research paper by the economic think tank NCAER stating that poverty in India is estimated to have declined to 8.5 per cent in 2022-24 from 21.2 per cent in 2011-12, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Some support also came as a CRISIL Ratings report said that revenues of top 18 states, which account for 90 per cent of India's gross state domestic product, are likely to grow at a pace of eight to 10 per cent during the current financial year at Rs 38 lakh crore with robust GST collections and devolution of finances from the Centre, which comprise around 50 per cent of the aggregate state revenues.
In afternoon session, index trimmed most of its gains, but traded in positive terrain, as traders remained positive with a private report stating that India aims to clock $2 trillion goods and services exports by 2030 amid the Red Sea crisis and two ongoing wars. Ecommerce exports are growing rapidly and those done through the postal and courier routes are pegged at $1.5 billion. Besides, another private report stated that the government is likely to increase subsidies on rural housing in the upcoming Budget 2024 by up to 50 percent from the previous year to more than $6.5 billion. In the last leg of trade, index slipped near neutral line and ended slightly in green amid profit booking by investors.
