Sensex, Nifty remain lackluster during early noon deals

Tracking weak global cues, Indian equity benchmarks remained lackluster during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading marginally lower. Trade was also impacted by huge losses witnessed by Reliance Industries and Wipro. Market participants got cautious, after the Economic Survey said that the rising Geopolitical uncertainties will likely to exert a bigger influence on capital flows. However, downside remained capped with the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) latest ‘Provisional payroll data’ report showing that 19.50 lakh net members have been added in the month of May 2024. The addition during the month is the highest since the first payroll data was issued in April 2018. Further, the year-over-year analysis showed a growth of 19.62% in net member additions compared to May 2023. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after China lowered its short-term policy rate as well as benchmark lending rates on Monday, in order to prop up growth. The People's Bank of China cut the interest rate on seven-day reverse repos to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent. The central bank said that the action was aimed to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments to better support the real economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80555.21, down by 49.44 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 80100.65 and 80800.92. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 1.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.54%, Utilities up by 1.44%, PSU up by 1.34%, Basic Materials up by 1.27% and Healthcare up by 1.08%, while Realty down by 0.34%, FMCG down by 0.32%, Energy down by 0.29% and Bankex down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01%, HDFC Bank up by 1.96%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.69% and Power Grid up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.31%, Reliance Industries down by 3.25%, ITC down by 1.41%, Nestle down by 1.32% and Indusind Bank down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional payroll data’ report has showed that 19.50 lakh net members have been added in the month of May 2024. The addition during the month is the highest since the first payroll data was issued in April 2018. Further, the year-over-year analysis showed a growth of 19.62% in net member additions compared to May 2023. This surge in membership can be attributed to numerous factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO's outreach programs.

The data indicated that around 9.85 lakh new members have enrolled during May 2024. There is an increase of 10.96% in the new members from the previous month of April 2024 and 11.5% increase from the previous year May 2023. A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 58.37% of the total new members added in May 2024. This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers. In addition, the net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for May 2024 is the highest since the first payroll data was published. 

The payroll data highlighted that approximately 14.09 lakh members exited and subsequently re-joined EPFO. This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 23.47% compared to May 2023. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection. Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveiled that out of the new members added during the month, around 2.48 lakh are new female members.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24522.95, down by 7.95 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 24362.30 and 24595.20. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.44%, NTPC up by 2.78%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.13%, HDFC Bank up by 1.96% and Grasim Industries up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 8.66%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.31%, Reliance Industries down by 3.25%, ITC down by 1.52% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite weakened 25.41 points or 0.85% to 2,956.90, Straits Times fell 4.59 points or 0.13% to 3,442.97, KOSPI dropped 31.95 points or 1.16% to 2,763.51, Nikkei 225 slipped 464.79 points or 1.17% to 39,599.00 and Taiwan Weighted lost 612.27 points or 2.75% to 22,256.99, while Hang Seng advanced 148.28 points or 0.85% to 17,565.96 and Jakarta Composite gained 16.39 points or 0.22% to 7,310.89.