Indian markets open at record levels on Thursday

Indian equity benchmarks opened at record levels on Thursday tracking gains on Wall Street overnight after the U.S. Federal Reserve provided clear signals for a possible interest rate cut that investors much hoped for. Indian markets are trading higher in early deals with decent gains on account of buying in Metal, Utilities and Energy stocks. Traders took encouragement as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expressed hope that steps such as focus on self-sufficiency, technology, stronger currency and fundamentals would help India become a $55-trillion economy by 2047.  Traders overlooked the government data showing that the output of India’s eight key infrastructure industries expanded by 4 per cent year-on-year in June, the slowest growth in 20 months. Meanwhile, investors are eyeing the Manufacturing PMI data to be out later in the day for more directional cues. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed reflecting optimism about an interest rate cut by the US Fed in September after the Fed's monetary policy announcement where the Fed left interest rates unchanged, as expected, but the accompanying statement hinted at future rate cuts. Back home, auto stocks are in focus reacting to their monthly sales numbers. In stock specific development, Coal India rallied after Q1 results.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82033.84, up by 292.50 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 81877.16 and 82129.49. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.91%, Utilities up by 0.91%, Energy up by 0.85%, PSU up by 0.75% and Basic Materials up by 0.69%, while Realty down by 0.13% and Telecom down by 0.01% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.85%, Power Grid up by 2.05%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.99%, JSW Steel up by 1.56% and Tata Steel up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.25%, Sun Pharma down by 1.12%, Infosys down by 0.42%, ITC down by 0.31% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed optimism about India’s ambitus target to become a $55-trillion economy by 2047 and said that steps such as focus on self-sufficiency, technology, stronger currency and fundamentals would help the country to achieve this target.

He said that the government is also focusing on areas such as moving from oil to electric vehicles and bringing quality in the manufacturing. He added that EV focus, and reduction in imports of goods, oil seeds, rubber and pulses would help further strengthen the domestic currency.

Responding to queries regarding the feasibility of this target, Goyal referenced K V Subramanian's book Bharat@100: Envisioning Tomorrow's Economic Powerhouse and stressed that collective efforts and stronger economic fundamentals will be key to achieving this ambitious goal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25044.35, up by 93.20 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 25008.80 and 25078.30. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.27%, Coal India up by 2.96%, Power Grid up by 2.20%, Hindalco up by 2.04% and SBI Life Insurance up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.29%, Sun Pharma down by 1.04%, Eicher Motors down by 0.83% and BPCL down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 1017.43 points or 2.6% to 38,084.39, Hang Seng declined 33.11 points or 0.19% to 17,311.49, Straits Times fell 28.68 points or 0.83% to 3,427.26 and Shanghai Composite weakened 6.61 points or 0.23% to 2,932.14. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted surged 418.06 points or 1.88% to 22,617.41, Jakarta Composite gained 53.58 points or 0.74% to 7,309.34 and KOSPI was up by 21.55 points or 0.78% to 2,792.24.