Bourses continue to trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session

Indian markets continued their fine fettle trade in late afternoon session tracing positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders took note of 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.

On the global front, All Asian markets were trading higher as soft inflation readings from the U.S. spurred expectations for more Fed rate cuts this year. European markets were trading higher as UK economy expanded slightly in November after two consecutive contractions. Gross domestic product grew 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in November, following an unrevised fall of 0.1 percent in October. GDP was expected to grow 0.2 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77008.58, up by 284.50 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 76895.51 and 77319.50. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.13%, while Small cap index was up by 1.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.00%, Industrials up by 1.98%, Capital Goods up by 1.87%, Metal up by 1.82%, Basic Materials up by 1.72%, while FMCG down by 0.52%, IT down by 0.41%, Consumer Durables down by 0.22% and TECK was down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 2.72%, Indusind Bank up by 1.81%, NTPC up by 1.79%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.73% and Tata Motors up by 1.64%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.66%, Nestle down by 1.39%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27%, ITC down by 1.14% and TCS down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that India today is known as the first responder to the Global South for its humanitarian initiatives in times of natural disasters, adding that Indian government is there for every person in distress within the country and in the world. That is true global leadership and that is the philosophy of India.

Further pointing out that India is known to provide disaster management to the neighbouring countries in flood prevention, flood control and in mitigating other disasters, Goyal said that during Covid, India provided free vaccines to over 100 countries through the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ humanitarian initiative. The Minister said that disaster relief insurance claims is an area where work needs to be done in creating awareness and providing faster disposal of the claims in a seamless manner and nobody should need to approach the courts to get relief. 

Besides, Goyal stressed that managing disaster crisis is a whole-of-the-government approach that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has focused on and also pointed out that the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, PK Mishra is respected worldwide when it comes to disaster management. He also noted that a holistic approach on PM’s 10-point agenda of - integration, risk coverage, women leadership, risk mapping technology, research, media, capacity building, learning and international cooperation will help the nation build climate-resilient infrastructure in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23313.50, up by 100.30 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 23272.05 and 23391.65. There were 32 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 8.66%, Bharat Electronics up by 3.36%, Shriram Finance up by 3.07%, SBI Life up by 2.70% and Hindalco up by 2.50%. On the flip side, Trent down by 2.90%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.25%, Tata Consumer down by 2.21%, HCL Tech down by 1.80% and Wipro down by 1.52% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 510.53 points or 2.22% to 23,025.10, Hang Seng advanced 236.82 points or 1.21% to 19,522.89, Nikkei 225 surged 128.02 points or 0.33% to 38,572.60, Jakarta Composite gained 51.94 points or 0.73% to 7,131.50, Straits Times rose 31.41 points or 0.83% to 3,803.99, KOSPI increased 30.68 points or 1.21% to 2,527.49 and Shanghai Composite was up by 8.91 points or 0.28% to 3,236.03.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 45.35 points or 0.55% to 8,346.48, France’s CAC rose 105.24 points or 1.41% to 7,579.83 and Germany’s DAX was up by 53.23 points or 0.26% to 20,627.91.