Key gauges continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, amid hopes for a rate cut by the RBI next week. Investors also looking forward to positive cues in the upcoming Union Budget 2025-26. Traders took support with the Reserve Bank stating that it will conduct a USD/INR buy-sell swap auction of $5 billion (about Rs 43,000 crore) on January 31, as part of its over Rs 1.5 lakh crore liquidity injection into the banking system. Some support also came as Agriculture Miniter Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the progress of sowing of rabi crops especially wheat, and called for ‘dynamic’ procurement through government agencies to ensure maximum benefits to the farmers. On the global front, the Japanese stock market is trading higher on Wednesday following Wall Street’s tech-led rebound from a selloff that shook global markets, as focus turns to the Federal Reserve’s rate decision and US mega-cap earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76322.80, up by 421.39 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 75983.53 and 76361.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 2.02%, while Small cap index was up by 2.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 2.36%, Capital Goods up by 2.09%, Consumer Disc up by 1.90%, Consumer Durables up by 1.89% and IT up by 1.81%, while FMCG down by 0.62% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Zomato up by 2.88%, Tata Motors up by 2.20%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.81%, Infosys up by 1.52% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 0.52%, ITC down by 0.23%, NTPC down by 0.08%, Asian Paints down by 0.04% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that housing prices may rise 3-4 per cent next fiscal (FY26) on high base effect and better supply. It expects property prices to increase 5-6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY25. It stated prices surged 21 per cent YoY in FY24 with old stock cleared and existing inventory largely liquidated.

It has maintained a neutral outlook for the residential real estate sector for the next fiscal. It said ‘Growth in bookings is likely to reduce significantly due to the high base, high prices and a likely slowdown in the luxury segment.’ Besides, it said the residential real estate market is expected to register a strong performance in FY25, where the sales growth will be around 17 per cent YoY in terms of area sold (square feet of area sold) and around 15 per cent in terms of units sold for the top eight real estate clusters. This growth will be largely driven by the premium and luxury segment sales.

Mahaveer Shankarlal Jain, Director, Corporate Ratings, Ind-Ra, said ‘FY26 is likely to see continued positive growth in bookings, although at a slower pace due to the base effect and moderation in affordability. Among the top eight cities, the National Capital Region, Bengaluru, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are likely to remain relatively resilient in bookings, except for the luxury segment.’ He added developers might continue to experience positive growth in collections and operating cash flows, leading to a sustained strong balance sheet.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23081.60, up by 124.35 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 22976.50 and 23106.45. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 3.23%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.61%, Trent up by 2.30%, Eicher Motors up by 2.08% and Tata Motors up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.48%, BPCL down by 1.40%, Britannia Industries down by 0.74%, ITC down by 0.56% and Asian Paints down by 0.34% were the top losers.

On global front, Nikkei 225 surged 316.25 points or 0.81% to 39,333.12.