Dalal Street witness recovery; Sensex, Nifty turn positive

The Dalal Street witnessed recovery in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty turning positive, aided by buying at Telecom, Healthcare and Banking counters despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that domestic economic activity continues to be resilient. On the supply side, steady progress in south-west monsoon, higher cumulative kharif sowing, and improving reservoir levels augur well for the kharif output. The street took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that there has been substantial tax relief for middle class in last two years. Sitharaman also said that there will be a comprehensive review of the rate structure of indirect taxes in the next 6 months.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after a measure of public opinion about the Japanese economy improved for the second straight month in July, though slightly and below expectations. The survey data from the Cabinet Office showed that the current conditions index of the Economy Watchers' Survey, which measures the present situation of the economy, rose to 47.5 in July from 47.0 in June. The expected score was 47.8. However, any reading below 50 indicates pessimism.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79535.96, up by 67.95 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 78897.92 and 79576.00. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.33%, Healthcare up by 0.87%, Bankex up by 0.43%, Consumer Durables up by 0.21% and Industrials up by 0.13%, while Metal down by 1.06%, Oil & Gas down by 0.83%, Energy down by 0.59%, Basic Materials down by 0.52% and Utilities down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.22%, HDFC Bank up by 1.70%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.94% and SBI up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.23%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.68%, Power Grid down by 1.38%, Tata Steel down by 1.36% and Infosys down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao has said that the mines ministry is working on rolling out the Critical Mineral Mission this year. He noted that Union Budget 2024-25 has proposed launching Critical Mineral Mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals, and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets. He said its mandate will include technology development, skilled workforce, extended producer responsibility framework, and a suitable financing mechanism.

The secretary said critical minerals, such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, from wind turbines to electric cars. Such minerals are particularly in demand for production of batteries for electric cars. He said 'the government has successfully auctioned 14 critical mineral mines. So the mining practises in the critical mineral mines will have to be studied because this is the first time that these kinds of mines will become operational in the country. We will have to study how these mines are operationalised in other countries and what are the specific practises relating to critical mineral mines and we may have to incorporate some of those into the star rating system.’

He said ‘during the Union Budget, it was announced that the government will do the first auction of offshore mineral blocks this year, and we are working on that as well.’ Minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements are critical for sectors like nuclear energy, renewable energy, space, defence, telecommunications, and high-tech electronics. He also said during budget, the government proposed to fully exempt customs duties on 25 critical minerals and reduce BCD (basic customs duty) on two of them. This will provide a major fillip to the processing and refining of such minerals and help secure their availability for these strategic and important sectors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24303.80, up by 6.30 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 24119.30 and 24325.70. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.14%, HDFC Bank up by 1.78%, Cipla up by 1.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.41% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.29%, Grasim Industries down by 2.12%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.67%, BPCL down by 1.62% and LTIMindtree down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI dropped 11.68 points or 0.46% to 2,556.73, Nikkei 225 slipped 258.47 points or 0.74% to 34,831.15, Taiwan Weighted lost 425.18 points or 2.04% to 20,870.10 and Jakarta Composite plunged 5.72 points or 0.08% to 7,206.41, while Hang Seng advanced 86.46 points or 0.51% to 16,964.32, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.95 points or 0.1% to 2,872.78 and Straits Times rose 10.86 points or 0.33% to 3,260.58.