Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in Telecom, Realty and Metal stocks. Traders took support with Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal’s statement that as India’s exports in the first quarter of 2024-25 (April-June) crossed the $200 billion mark, the government has expressed its optimism about reaching its full-year target of $800 billion. Traders took a note of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showing that India’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments rose to $2.14 billion in June 2024, compared to $1.14 billion in June 2023. Sequentially, they declined from $2.22 billion in May 2024. 

Sectorally, auto stocks remained in focus as dealers' body FADA said automobile retail sales increased 9 per cent year-on-year in June quarter FY25 with all segments, barring tractors, reporting growth. Overall retail sales rose to 61,91,225 units in the April-June period from 56,59,060 units in the same quarter of FY24. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as traders reacted to some disappointing economic data from China. The National Bureau of Statistics said Chinese GDP expanded 4.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 5.1 percent and down from 5.3 percent in the three months prior.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80849.30, up by 184.44 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 80708.78 and 80875.61. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.41%, Realty up by 1.39%, Metal up by 1.21%, TECK up by 0.76% and Basic Materials up by 0.63%, while Capital Goods down by 0.08% and Bankex down by 0.03% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.99%, Tata Steel up by 1.65%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.03%, ICICI Bank up by 0.82% and ITC up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.38%, Nestle down by 1.05%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.56%, NTPC down by 0.43% and Reliance Industries down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India's merchandise export increased by 2.56 per cent to $35.20 billion in June 2024 as compared to $34.32 billion in June last year. Along with the exports, the country's imports have soared by 5 per cent to reach $56.18 billion in June 2024 as compared to $53.51 billion in June 2023. The trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, during the month under review stood at $20.98 billion. 

According to the data, merchandise exports during April-June 2024 were $109.96 billion as compared to $103.89 billion during April-June 2023. Merchandise imports during April-June 2024 were $172.23 billion compared to $160.05 billion during April-June 2023. Merchandise trade deficit during April-June 2024 was $62.26 billion compared to $56.16 billion during April-June 2023.

It further stated that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in June 2024 were $27.43 billion compared to $25.29 billion in June 2023. Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in April-June 2024 were $81.90 billion, compared to $77.33 billion in April-June 2023. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in June 2024 were $36.04 billion compared to $33.66 billion in June 2023. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in April-June 2024 were $105.35 billion, compared to $102.10 billion in April-June 2023.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24650.00, up by 63.30 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 24599.75 and 24654.85. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.94%, Coal India up by 2.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.97%, Tata Steel up by 1.82% and Tata Consumer Product up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 1.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.36%, Nestle down by 1.31%, SBI Life Insurance down by 0.94% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 245.98 points or 1.38% to 17,769.96, Jakarta Composite plunged 34.92 points or 0.48% to 7,243.94, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.16 points or 0.21% to 2,967.85 and Straits Times fell 9.17 points or 0.26% to 3,490.72. On the flip side, KOSPI increased 4.58 points or 0.16% to 2,865.50, Nikkei 225 surged 106.3 points or 0.26% to 41,296.98 and Taiwan Weighted added 73.37 points or 0.31% to 23,952.73.