Sensex, Nifty trade in fine-fettle on strong global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start on Thursday following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight as well as firm trade in Asian counterparts after data showing a slowdown in the annual rate of core consumer prices growth in the U.S. in December helped ease concerns about US Fed's interest rate trajectory. Sensex and Nifty are trading higher in early deals on account of buying in Realty, PSU and Power counters. Some support came as industry body PHDCCI said India's economy is expected to become the fourth largest in the world by 2026, surpassing Japan, as it projected the nation's GDP to grow 6.8 per cent in the current financial year ending March and 7.7 per cent in FY26.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green. The Bank of Japan said producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in December. That was unchanged from the November reading, but shy of expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.

Back home, stocks of energy companies are in focus as market intelligence firm CRISIL said India’s investments in green infrastructure and energy projects will grow five-fold over the next five years to Rs 31 trillion. In stock specific development, RVNL jumped on receiving a Letter of Acceptance from Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) for the development of Middle mile network of Bharat Net on Design-Build-Operate-and-Maintain (DBOM) model.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76998.29, up by 274.21 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 76984.39 and 77319.50. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.43%, while Small cap index was up by 1.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.31%, PSU up by 1.90%, Power up by 1.69%, Utilities up by 1.61% and Industrials up by 1.58%, while FMCG down by 0.28% was the sole losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.94%, Indusind Bank up by 2.35%, Zomato up by 2.27%, SBI up by 2.16% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.76%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.17%, Nestle down by 0.91%, TCS down by 0.88%, HCL Technologies down by 0.81% and ITC down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody's Ratings in its report on Asia Pacific Sovereigns has said that India's fiscal conditions will continue to constrain its credit strength in 2025, although tension in US-China relations could benefit the Indian economy. It said growth and inflation are levelling out, with strong domestic demand bolstered by modest easing in global and regional financial conditions. But proposed trade restrictions by the US would weaken economic output across the region.

It said ‘India's fiscal conditions will continue to constrain its credit strength in 2025. We expect only gradual fiscal consolidation, and debt to remain significantly higher than the Baa-rated peer median of around 57 per cent’. It added ‘Despite gains in revenue in recent years, we also expect debt affordability to remain much weaker than rated peers’.

It said politics and social unrest pose significant economic and fiscal risks. In APAC, geopolitical risks will persist in 2025, flowing from tensions in the US-China relationship and around regional hotspots. Moody's assesses a low likelihood of military conflict in the Taiwan Strait or Korean Peninsula, and tensions will remain elevated, particularly driven by US-China relations.

It said ‘These tensions are shaping trade and investment flows, which may be further diverted away from China as the US tightens investment in strategic sectors, further weakening China's economy and dampening regional growth. However, this shift could benefit India and Southeast Asian economies’. It said a range of geopolitical and domestic political risks persist, and added that after elections in key economies, governments may need to make choices whether to fulfill pledges or to focus on fiscal consolidation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23316.60, up by 103.40 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 23312.95 and 23391.65. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 10.00%, SBI Life Insurance up by 4.18%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.88%, Shriram Finance up by 3.54% and Adani Enterprises up by 3.06%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.86%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%, TCS down by 0.92%, Nestle down by 0.89% and Britannia Industries down by 0.86% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Taiwan Weighted jumped 535.82 points or 2.32% to 23,050.39, Hang Seng strengthened 159.61 points or 0.82% to 19,445.68, Nikkei 225 surged 87.59 points or 0.23% to 38,532.17, Jakarta Composite gained 54.9 points or 0.77% to 7,134.46, KOSPI rose 27.92 points or 1.11% to 2,524.73, Straits Times added 24.95 points or 0.66% to 3,797.53 and Shanghai Composite was up by 6.8 points or 0.21% to 3,233.92.