Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in late afternoon session on account of buying by funds and retail investors. Traders are now focusing towards India’s Consumer Price Index data, which slated to be released later in a day. Markets participants ignored report that India’s wholesale inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) increased to 1.84% in September 2024 from a four-month low of 1.31% it had hit in the previous month due to increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, manufacture of machinery & equipment, etc.  

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as traders react to the report showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly unchanged in September, reinforcing optimism the US Fed will continue lowering interest rates in the coming months. European markets were trading mostly in red after data showed China's exports and imports grew far less than expected in September. A much-anticipated Chinese stimulus announcement over the weekend also failed to inspire confidence among investors.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82008.83, up by 627.47 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 81541.20 and 82072.17. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.23%, while Small cap index was down by 0.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.53%, IT up by 1.10%, Bankex up by 0.94%, TECK up by 0.89% and Capital Goods was up by 0.76%, while Basic Materials down by 0.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.20%, Metal down by 0.19%, Power down by 0.03% and Energy was down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.73%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.31%, HDFC Bank up by 2.20%, ITC up by 2.04% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.43%, Tata Steel down by 1.34%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.03%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.96% and Axis Bank was down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s wholesale inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) increased to 1.84% in September 2024 from a four-month low of 1.31% it had hit in the previous month due to increase in prices of food articles, food products, other manufacturing, manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, manufacture of machinery & equipment, etc. The WPI had witnessed a slight contraction of -0.1% in September 2023.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased by 0.41% to 195.7 (provisional) in September 2024 from 194.9 (provisional) for the month of August 2024, as prices of minerals, non-food articles and food articles rise. However, fuel & power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined by 0.81% to 146.9 (provisional) in September 2024 from 148.1(provisional) for the month of August 2024, as price of mineral oils declined, while index for coal remained constant.

Further, manufactured products, having weight of 64.23% inched up by 0.14% to 141.8 (provisional) in September 2024 from 141.6 (provisional) for the month of August 2024. Out of the 22 NIC two-digit groups for manufactured products, 10 groups witnessed an increase in prices, 9 groups witnessed a decrease in prices and 3 groups witnessed no change in prices.

WPI Food Index consisting of 'food articles' from primary articles group and 'food product' from manufactured products group increased from 193.2 in August, 2024 to 195.3 in September, 2024. The annual rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index increased from 3.26% in August, 2024 to 9.47% in September, 2024.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25135.75, up by 171.50 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 25017.50 and 25159.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 4.09%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.57%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.30%, HDFC Bank up by 2.17% and ITC up by 2.16%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.91%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.54%, Tata Steel down by 1.30%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.06% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 73.65 points or 0.32% to 22,975.29, Shanghai Composite strengthened 66.58 points or 2.03% to 3,284.32, Jakarta Composite gained 37.33 points or 0.5% to 7,557.93, KOSPI increased 26.38 points or 1.01% to 2,623.29 and Straits Times was up by 21.56 points or 0.6% to 3,595.32. On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 159.11 points or 0.75% to 21,092.87.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.45 points or 0.05% to 8,249.20 and France’s CAC was down by 17.58 points or 0.23% to 7,560.31. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was up by 41.61 points or 0.21% to 19,415.44.