Gaining rally persists over Dalal Street

A gaining rally continued over the Dalal Street in late afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, tracking positive cues from European markets. Traders were positive, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) economists in their latest assessment of the economy said that the second half of the current fiscal year would result in faster economic growth than a relatively circumspect first half, boosted by a visible demand rebound. Market participants paid no heed towards NITI Aayog member and renowned economist Arvind Virmani’s statement that he has revised his GDP growth projection for India on the lower side for FY25 due to rising global uncertainties and risks, particularly from the United States and China.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, after Switzerland's producer and import prices continued to decline in December, though at the slowest pace in fourteen months. The data from the Federal Statistical Office showed that producer and import prices dropped 0.9 percent year-on-year in December, following a 1.5 percent decline in November. Prices have been falling since May 2023. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77205.84, up by 586.51 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 76584.84 and 77318.94. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged by 0.87%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.24%, Telecom up by 2.23%, PSU up by 1.71%, Power up by 1.52% and Utilities up by 1.26%, while Auto down by 0.37% and FMCG down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 9.37%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.48%, NTPC up by 3.08%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.06% and SBI up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.12%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.05%, TCS down by 1.03%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.69% and ITC down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in its survey report has said that even though geopolitical fault lines have disrupted global supply chains and have posed serious challenges to global growth, India has emerged as a bright spot amid this challenging global backdrop. The sound economic policies initiated by the Government helped revive the economy with emphasis on public capex-led growth.

This pan-India survey is an ongoing initiative, which would be completed for 500 firms by the first week of February. The interim results are based on a sample of 300 firms spread across all industry sizes (Large, Medium and Small). The industry survey was conducted to assess the pickup in private-sector investments, employment in the private sector and growth in wages in the private sector.

Early results revealed that about 97 per cent of the sample firms are likely to increase employment in both 2024-25 and 2025-26. Besides, majority of the firms surveyed indicated that it takes anywhere between 1 to 6 months to fill in vacancies of Senior management, Management/ Supervisory level, while regular and contractual workers take less time to fill in a vacant position indicating the need to fill the availability of skilled staff at the higher level in sample firms.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23361.90, up by 158.70 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 23170.65 and 23391.10. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 9.41%, Wipro up by 6.38%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.61%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.17% and NTPC up by 3.14%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.63%, Trent down by 1.93%, Shriram Finance down by 1.61%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.25% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.10% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.95 points or 0.28% to 8,529.17, France’s CAC rose 23.07 points or 0.3% to 7,732.82 and Germany’s DAX gained 17.18 points or 0.08% to 20,920.57.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 341.75 points or 1.72% to 19,925.81, Jakarta Composite gained 16.08 points or 0.22% to 7,170.74, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.56 points or 0.08% to 3,244.38, Straits Times rose 1.11 points or 0.03% to 3,811.89, Nikkei 225 surged 451.04 points or 1.16% to 38,902.50 and Taiwan Weighted added 118.74 points or 0.51% to 23,266.82, while KOSPI dropped 3.50 points or 0.14% to 2,520.05.