Sensex, Nifty trade higher in early deals amid bargain hunting

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start on Wednesday tracking firm global cues. Sensex and Nifty are trading higher in early deals as investors preferred to buy stocks at reduced levels after previous session of sharp sell-off. Some support came in with a private projecting India's GDP to grow at 6.5-6.8 per cent in the current fiscal and said India will have to adapt to the evolving global landscape and harness its domestic strengths to drive sustainable growth. However, upside remained limited amid foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold stocks worth Rs 5,920.28 crore in the secondary markets on January 21, taking the month-to-date selling above Rs 50,000-crore mark.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly higher, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, as optimism about a few interest rate cuts by the US Fed this year, and a drop in global bond yields. Markets in China and Hong Kong were down as the US administration was discussing a 10 tariff against China and said tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok's ownership.

Back home, renewable energy sector stocks are in focus as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said the share of renewables including large hydro in the country's overall energy mix is expected to remain stable at nearly 21 per cent in FY25. In stock specific development, Jana Small Finance Bank jumped after Q3 results.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76026.78, up by 188.42 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 76001.95 and 76247.55. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.50%, while Small cap index was down by 1.71%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.47%, TECK up by 0.44% and FMCG up by 0.09%, while Realty down by 3.32%, Power down by 1.70%, Utilities down by 1.66%, PSU down by 1.62% and Industrials down by 1.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.62%, Sun Pharma up by 1.34%, TCS up by 1.14%, ITC up by 0.77% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 3.10%, Power Grid down by 1.80%, Tata Motors down by 1.57%, SBI down by 0.90% and Tata Steel down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has disbursed Rs 1,596 crore under Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for six sectors, including electronics and pharma, during the April-September this fiscal. The government in 2021 announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors such as telecommunication, white goods, textiles, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, high-efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell battery, drones, and pharma with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.

Out of the total Rs 1,596 crore, the maximum amount of Rs 964 crore was disbursed under the PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing. It was followed by pharma (Rs 604 crore), food products (Rs 11 crore), telecom (Rs 9 crore), bulk drugs (Rs 6 crore) and drones (Rs 2 crore). Incentives disbursed till 2023-24 stood at Rs 9,721 crore. The scheme is having a cascading effect on the country's MSME ecosystem. The anchor units that will be built in every sector will require a new supplier base in the entire value chain. Most of these ancillary units will be built in the MSME sector.

Further as of August 2024, across 14 sectors, investment of Rs 1.46 lakh crore have been realised, which has resulted in incremental production/sales of over Rs 12.50 lakh crore, employment generation of over 9.5 lakhs, and exports surpassing Rs 4 lakh crore. Over 760 applications have been approved under PLI schemes. The departments implementing their respective schemes are responsible for the disbursals. The schemes aim is to attract investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology; ensure efficiency, bring economies of size and scale in the manufacturing sector and make Indian companies and manufacturers globally competitive.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23060.55, up by 35.90 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 23052.35 and 23127.70. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 1.89%, Infosys up by 1.51%, TCS up by 1.06%, Sun Pharma up by 0.87% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Bharat Electronics down by 2.53%, Tata Motors down by 1.87%, Coal India down by 1.57%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.48% and Power Grid down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 514.3 points or 1.3% to 39,542.28, Taiwan Weighted added 256.01 points or 1.09% to 23,556.02, Jakarta Composite gained 76.62 points or 1.06% to 7,258.44, KOSPI increased 24.37 points or 0.96% to 2,542.40 and Straits Times rose 1.86 points or 0.05% to 3,797.23. On the other hand, Hang Seng declined 270.16 points or 1.36% to 19,836.39 and Shanghai Composite was down by 27.25 points or 0.85% to 3,215.37.