Firm trade continues over Dalal Street in early noon deals

A firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, aided by heavy buying at Capital Goods and Industrials counters. Sentiments remained upbeat as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report ‘Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit - November 2024’ has showed that credit to agriculture and allied activities registered a growth of 15.3 per cent (y-o-y) as on the fortnight ended November 29, 2024 (18.1 per cent for the corresponding fortnight of the previous year). 

Adding more optimism among traders, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi highlighted that India is emerging as a global economic leader with resilience and innovation. On the global front, Asian markets remained shut for the New Year holiday.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78588.17, up by 449.16 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 77898.30 and 78637.71. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.03%, Industrials up by 0.97%, Telecom up by 0.60%, FMCG up by 0.44% and Power up by 0.39%, while Realty down by 0.82% and Metal down by 0.20% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.93%, Asian Paints up by 1.75%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.27% and Indusind Bank up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 0.76%, NTPC down by 0.72%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.38%, Zomato down by 0.34% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's arm Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has revised the National Programme for Organic Production’s (NPOP) regulations to make it more farmer-friendly and help India achieve $2 billion exports target for organic food products by 2030. The NPOP provides standards for organic production and procedure for accreditation of Certification Bodies. 

The standards and procedures have been formulated in harmony with other International Standards regulating the import and export of organic products. During April-November this fiscal, these exports rose by about 40 per cent to $456 million. It was $495 million in 2023-24. The ministry is aiming to increase the outbound shipments to $2 billion by 2030.

The NPOP is the primary organic regulatory standard of the Country, it is accepted by the importing countries and has been a key driver for market access of organic products. The NPOP standards for crop production have been recognised by the European Commission and Switzerland as equivalent to their country's standards and are also accepted by Great Britain. APEDA has been designated as the secretariat for the implementation of the NPOP and regulatory oversight over the operations of the certification bodies. It was last revised in 2014.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23769.90, up by 125.10 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 23562.80 and 23778.85. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.98%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.83%, Asian Paints up by 1.78% and Apollo Hospital up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.04%, Hindalco down by 1.73%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.58%, ONGC down by 0.87% and Tata Steel down by 0.76% were the top losers.