Sensex, Nifty hold notable gains during early afternoon deals

Following positive global markets, Indian equity benchmarks were too holding their gaining rally in early afternoon deals, aided by strong buying at Auto, FMCG and Consumer Durables counters. Sentiments were positive, amid reports that India's informal sector grew post-pandemic, with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh logging big output gains in fiscal 2022-23. According to the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the number of informal firms in India increased 9 percent to 65 million in 2022-23 from 59.7 million in 2022-21. Besides, another report stated that area sown under major crops was 14 percent higher as of July 5 compared with the previous year, as rainfall situation improved across the country. According to data released by the Indian Meteorological Department, sowing is likely to improve further as the country faced a rainfall surplus of 1.8 percent as of July 8.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, as Japan's total labor cash earnings continued to increase in May, and at the quickest pace in nearly a year. A report from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare showed that total earnings rose 1.9 percent year-over-year in May, faster than the revised 1.6 percent growth in April. Further, this was the steepest increase since June 2023, when earnings had risen 2.3 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80257.48, up by 297.10 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 79998.56 and 80288.92. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.81%, FMCG up by 1.31%, Consumer Durables up by 1.22%, Utilities up by 1.10% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.88%, while Capital Goods down by 0.37%, Industrials down by 0.28%, Telecom down by 0.23%, Energy down by 0.22% and Oil & Gas down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.49%, ITC up by 2.28%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.19%, Titan up by 1.33% and SBI up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.20%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.57%, JSW Steel down by 0.53%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.53% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, giving one more chance to prospective investors to benefit from the Scheme, the Government has reopened the application window for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods (PLIWG) (ACs and LED Lights) for 90 days. The application window for the Scheme will remain open for the period from July 15, 2024 to October 12, 2024 (inclusive) on the same terms & conditions stipulated in PLIWG Scheme notified on April 16, 2021 and PLIWG Scheme Guidelines issued on June 04, 2021, as amended from time to time.

So far, 66 applicants with committed investment of Rs 6,962 crore have been selected as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme. For manufacturing components of Air conditioners (ACs) companies like Daikin, Voltas, Hindalco, Amber, PG Technoplast, EPACK, Mettube, LG, Blue Star, Johnson Hitachi, Panasonic, Haier, Midea, Havells, IFB, NIDEC, Lucas, Swaminathan, and Triton Valves etc. have invested.

Similarly, in manufacturing components of LED lights, companies like Dixon, R K Lighting, Radhika OPTO, Surya, Orient, Signify, Crompton Greaves, Stove Kraft, Cosmo Films, Halonix, Chenfeng, Fulham, Adsun, Inventronix and Luker etc. have invested. These investments will lead to manufacturing of components of Air Conditioners and LED Lights across the complete value chain including components which are not manufactured in India presently with sufficient quantity.

Earlier, the Union Cabinet had given approval for the PLI Scheme for White Goods for manufacture of components and sub-assemblies of Air Conditioners (ACs) and LED Lights on April 7, 2021 in pursuance of the clarion call of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ to bring manufacturing at the centre stage and emphasise its significance in driving India’s growth and creating jobs. The Scheme is to be implemented over a seven-year period, from FY 2021-22 to FY 2028-29 and has an outlay of Rs 6,238 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24393.30, up by 72.75 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 24331.90 and 24404.00. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.51%, ITC up by 2.24%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.39% and Britannia up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.19%, Grasim Industries down by 0.71%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.71%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.69% and LTIMindtree down by 0.65% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 23.52 points or 0.13% to 17,547.58, Jakarta Composite gained 43.6 points or 0.6% to 7,294.58, Shanghai Composite strengthened 36.1 points or 1.24% to 2,958.55, Straits Times rose 15.89 points or 0.47% to 3,420.36, KOSPI increased 9.62 points or 0.34% to 2,867.38, Nikkei 225 surged 799.47 points or 1.92% to 41,580.17 and Taiwan Weighted added 21.93 points or 0.09% to 23,900.08.