Sensex, Nifty trade in fine-fettle on firm global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Monday and hit fresh record highs, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday coupled with firm trade in Asian counterparts amid rising optimism about an interest rate cut by the US Fed as early as September, and possibly another one or two by the end of the year, after the latest readings on the nation's inflation. Sensex and Nifty are trading in fine-fettle in early deals amid foreign fund inflows in the domestic markets. Foreign investors injected over Rs 33,600 crore into Indian equities so far this month on the expectation of continued policy reforms, sustained economic growth and a better-than-expected earnings season. 

Traders took encouragement as Piyush Goyal, the union minister for commerce and industry, said that the hike in capital gains taxes is unlikely to slow down capital market activity. Some support also came as Fitch Ratings said India's post-election budget confirms that the new administration remains committed to reducing the fiscal deficit for FY25 and FY26, despite demands of the coalition government. It added the sustained focus on supporting economic growth through high public capex also points to continuity in key areas. 

On the sectoral front, sugar sector stocks are in focus as Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said the government is likely to take a decision on increasing the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar within the next few days. MSP of sugar has remained unchanged at Rs 31 per kg since 2019, despite annual hikes in the fair and remunerative price (FRP) paid to sugarcane farmers. In stock specific development, ICICI Bank jumped after reporting better-than-expected Q1 results. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81646.48, up by 313.76 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 81592.93 and 81749.34. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.67%, while Small cap index was up by 1.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.90%, Capital Goods up by 1.35%, PSU up by 1.29%, Industrials up by 1.24% and Bankex up by 1.10%, while FMCG down by 0.36%, Telecom down by 0.28%, Consumer Durables down by 0.18%, Healthcare down by 0.12% and TECK down by 0.02% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.59%, Indusind Bank up by 2.05%, SBI up by 1.85%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.29% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.36%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.10%, Power Grid down by 0.84% and ITC down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog in a paper titled 'Vision for Viksit Bharat @ 2047:An Approach Paper' has said that India needs to strive to be a $30 trillion economy with a per capita income of $18,000 per annum by 2047, the approach paper for vision for Vikshit Bharat in 2047 has said. It said India needs to avoid the Middle-Income trap and carefully work towards breaking out of it. It said ‘The GDP would have to grow nine times from today's $3.36 trillion and the per capita income would need to rise 8 times from today's $2,392 per annum’.

The paper also noted that progressing from a middle-income to a high-income level requires sustained growth in the range of 7-10 per cent for 20-30 years and very few countries have managed to do this. Defining the concept of Vikshit Bharat, the paper said it is a Bharat which will have all the attributes of a developed country with a per capita income that is comparable to the high-income countries of the world today. It is a Bharat whose social, cultural, technological, and institutional features will mark it out as a developed nation with a rich heritage and one that is capable of functioning at the frontiers of knowledge. The paper said upgrading capabilities in manufacturing and logistics and bridging the gap between rural and urban incomes are some of the structural challenges that India needs to address. 

It noted that the country needs to achieve a balance between energy, security, access, affordability and sustainability. The document said improving the competitiveness of industry is equally necessary for the transformation of the country's agricultural workforce into an industrial workforce and making India a global manufacturing and service hub. Noting that a vision for India cannot be the work of a few individuals or of one government, the document said it has to be the result of the collective efforts of the entire nation. According to the document, India is at a turning point in its history and the 21st century can be India's century, as the country pole-vaults into the future confident of its capabilities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24920.50, up by 85.65 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 24894.05 and 24980.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 2.29%, BPCL up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 2.06%, SBI up by 2.02% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.44%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.49%, Titan Company down by 1.37%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.02% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.97% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 918.81 points or 2.44% to 38,586.22, Hang Seng jumped 309.93 points or 1.82% to 17,331.24, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 129.99 points or 0.59% to 22,249.20, KOSPI increased 37.23 points or 1.36% to 2,769.13, Straits Times rose 25.13 points or 0.73% to 3,451.60, Jakarta Composite gained 16.34 points or 0.22% to 7,304.51 and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.2 points or 0.04% to 2,892.10.