Markets extend gains in early afternoon

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains further in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, as positive U.S. labor market and GDP data pointed to a soft landing for the world's largest economy. Domestic sentiments remained optimistic, as the retail inflation rates for farm and rural workers eased in the month of July, with the All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) falling to 6.17% and 6.20%, as compared to 7.43% and 7.26% in July 2023, respectively. The corresponding figures for June 2024 were 7.02% for CPI-AL and 7.04% for CPI-RL.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent on month in July. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 3.6 percent following the 4.2 percent contraction in June. On a yearly basis, industrial production rose 2.7 percent. Upon the release of the data, the METI adjusted its assessment of industrial production, saying that it fluctuates indecisively.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82419.50, up by 284.89 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 82276.45 and 82637.03. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained by 0.64%, while Small cap index was up by 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.48%, Telecom up by 0.96%, Realty up by 0.90%, Consumer Durables up by 0.83% and Utilities up by 0.73%, while there were no losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.76%, Sun Pharma up by 1.50% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.26%, Reliance Industries down by 0.96%, ITC down by 0.67%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.41% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief, the retail inflation rates for farm and rural workers eased in the month of July, with the All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) falling to 6.17% and 6.20%, as compared to 7.43% and 7.26% in July 2023, respectively. The corresponding figures for June 2024 were 7.02% for CPI-AL and 7.04% for CPI-RL.

The easing in the inflation rate for farm and rural workers is in line with the overall decline in India’s consumer price inflation which has declined to a five-year low of 3.54 per cent in July 2024 mainly on account of subdued prices of food items, and base effect. It was 5.08 per cent in June 2024 and 7.44 per cent in July 2023. 

Meanwhile, the All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers and for Rural Labourers registered an increase of 10 points each in July 2024, reaching levels of 1,290 and 1,302, respectively. The CPI-AL and CPI-RL were 1,280 points and 1,292 points, respectively, in the month of June 2024.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25243.85, up by 91.90 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 25199.40 and 25258.80. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 2.01%, Cipla up by 2.00%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.95%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.89% and Divi's Lab up by 1.89%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.43%, Reliance Industries down by 0.95%, ITC down by 0.69%, LTIMindtree down by 0.48% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.41% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 280.1 points or 1.57% to 18,066.42, Jakarta Composite gained 31.38 points or 0.41% to 7,658.98, Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.52 points or 0.73% to 2,843.63, Straits Times rose 29.96 points or 0.88% to 3,434.43, KOSPI increased 12.03 points or 0.45% to 2,674.31, Nikkei 225 surged 285.22 points or 0.74% to 38,647.75 and Taiwan Weighted added 66.24 points or 0.3% to 22,268.09.