Sensex, Nifty off day’s lows in early noon deals

The positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Oil & Gas and Energy counters helped Indian equity benchmarks to come off from their intraday low points during early afternoon deals. Traders got some relief, after credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report said that India is likely to see a surge in private consumption in the current fiscal year (FY25), amid rural demand recovery owing to normal monsoon and moderating inflation. However, trade remained lackluster, as there was some anxiety among market participants, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao flagged concerns over quality of disclosures made by some NBFCs and urged the auditing community to ensure that entities provide appropriate qualitative information to depositors as well as other stakeholders. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after the Bank of Korea maintained its key interest rate for the twelfth straight session on Thursday and left the door open for interest rate reduction in the near term. The Monetary Policy Board unanimously decided to hold the Base Rate at 3.50 percent. The board expects consumer price inflation to decline moderately to the lower 2 percent range, and it is judged that it could be slightly lower than the May forecast of 2.6 percent for the year.

Back home, auto stocks were in watch, as CareEdge Ratings in its latest report said that commercial vehicle sales volume is expected to decline 3-6 per cent in the current fiscal (FY25) due to a slump in demand. It noted that the drop in sales volume is due to a slowdown in demand in both the medium and heavy commercial and light commercial vehicle segments, as well as on account of high inventory levels with dealers. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79715.92, down by 208.85 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 79464.38 and 80170.09. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.16%, while Small cap index up by 0.49%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.23%, Energy up by 1.12%, PSU up by 0.83%, Metal up by 0.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.26% while, Realty down by 1.44%, Bankex down by 0.36%, Power down by 0.33%, Healthcare down by 0.31%, Utilities down by 0.15% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.70%, ITC up by 1.12%, Tata Steel up by 1.10%, SBI up by 0.71% and HCL Tech. up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.67%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.64%, HDFC Bank down by 1.10%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.10% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that India is likely to see a surge in private consumption in the current fiscal year (FY25), amid rural demand recovery owing to normal monsoon and moderating inflation. 
It further said that the rise in private consumption would lead to more balanced growth, reducing the disparity between premium and value segments. The rating agency also expects urban demand to also continue to grow but at a slower pace, noting that there has been a constant rise in rural consumption demand in recent years.

Besides, Ind-Ra said that rural - urban inflation distribution is concerning, given that rural wage growth is perennially facing higher inflationary pressure versus urban (owing to higher food CPI), amplifying a negative impact on consumption. However, it believes the positive real wage growth in the past few months along with the expectation of a normal monsoon may support rural demand in FY25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24274.75, down by 49.70 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 24193.75 and 24402.65. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.62%, ONGC up by 2.03%, Tata Motors up by 1.70%, BPCL up by 1.45% and ITC up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.70%, Nestle down by 1.61%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.51%, Shriram Finance down by 1.27% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.18% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 353.36 points or 2.02% to 17,825.03, Jakarta Composite gained 26.26 points or 0.36% to 7,313.30, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.98 points or 0.99% to 2,968.34, Straits Times rose 15.04 points or 0.43% to 3,474.97, KOSPI increased 23.36 points or 0.81% to 2,891.35, Nikkei 225 surged 392.03 points or 0.93% to 42,224.02 and Taiwan Weighted added 382.95 points or 1.57% to 24,390.03.