Bourses continue to trade higher in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade in green in late afternoon session amid value buying. Nifty traded near fresh record high level. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index extended their gains. Investors continued to take support as Moody's Ratings said signs of a revival in rural demand are already emerging, on the back of improving prospects for agricultural output amid above-normal rainfall during the monsoon season. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher as strong GDP and labor data hinted at a soft landing for the world's largest economy. European markets were trading higher ahead of the release of the Eurozone CPI and U.S. PCE inflation data later in the day.  Meanwhile, Germany's import prices increased for the second straight month in July. Back home, Tyre sector remained in focused as Industry body Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) has said that tyre exports from India grew 17 per cent year-on-year to reach Rs 6,219 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY25) with the US emerging as the biggest market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82410.89, up by 276.28 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 82276.45 and 82637.03. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.74%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.42%, Realty up by 1.32%, Utilities up by 1.03%, Telecom up by 1.01% and Power was up by 0.86%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.10%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.00%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.91%, NTPC up by 1.80% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.09%, ITC down by 0.59%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.56%, Reliance Industries down by 0.52% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.37% 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 25245.40, up by 93.45 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 25199.40 and 25263.20. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 2.09%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.98%, Cipla up by 1.97% and NTPC up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.45%, ITC down by 0.62%, Reliance Industries down by 0.55%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.51% and Shriram Finance down by 0.38% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 285.22 points or 0.74% to 38,647.75, Hang Seng advanced 202.75 points or 1.13% to 17,989.07, Taiwan Weighted added 66.24 points or 0.3% to 22,268.09, Straits Times rose 31.74 points or 0.92% to 3,436.21, Shanghai Composite strengthened 19.1 points or 0.67% to 2,842.21, KOSPI increased 12.03 points or 0.45% to 2,674.31 and Jakarta Composite was up by 8.19 points or 0.11% to 7,635.79.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.32 points or 0.28% to 8,402.96, France’s CAC rose 37.33 points or 0.49% to 7,678.28 and Germany’s DAX was up by 18.84 points or 0.1% to 18,931.41.