Gaining rally persists over Dalal Street

A gaining rally persisted over the Dalal Street, with both Sensex and Nifty holding gains of over 0.60% each, aided by heavy buying at almost all sectors except IT and TECK. Besides, falling retail inflation reinforced the views that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will continue to loosen its monetary policy in coming months. Sentiments were also upbeat after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. and Russia will immediately begin negotiations toward ending the Ukraine conflict. 

The street overlooked a new study released by NCAER stating that debt levels of Indian states are set to rise further with more large states crossing the 40 percent debt to GDP level by 2027-28 and Punjab set to cross the 50 percent mark in a business as usual scenario. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in January. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 4.2 percent - exceeding expectations for 4.0 percent and up from the upwardly revised 3.9 percent in the previous month (originally 3.8 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76640.53, up by 469.45 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 76013.43 and 76764.53. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.27%, Realty up by 1.38%, Telecom up by 1.34%, PSU up by 1.32% and Basic Materials up by 1.26%, while IT down by 0.30% and TECK down by 0.07% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.67%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.17%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.80%, Sun Pharma up by 2.44% and Zomato up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 0.74% and TCS down by 0.31% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, in order to further strengthen consumer protection against Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018. The revised regulations aim to deal with evolving methods of misuse of telecom resource and promote a more transparent commercial communication ecosystem for consumers.

Since its implementation, TCCCPR-2018 has made breakthrough use of technology for spam control through blockchain-based regulatory framework. Despite the robust measures in place, spammers have evolved their tactics, necessitating further regulatory enhancements to safeguard consumer interests. Accordingly, TRAI issued a Consultation Paper (CP) on the Review of the TCCCPR 2018 on August 28, 2024 to seek stakeholders' views on key regulatory amendments needed to enhance consumer protection and curb Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC). The consultation focused on several vital issues, including redefining commercial communication categories, strengthening consumer complaint redressal mechanisms, tightening the threshold norms for action against UCC, bringing in higher accountability of senders and telemarketers, curbing the misuse of 10-digit numbers for telemarketing, implementing stricter measures against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs), etc.

So, the amendments introduced by the TRAI were built upon stakeholder feedback and extensive internal deliberations to reinforce consumer rights and prevent misuse of telecom resources while at the same time aiming that the legitimate commercial communication occur through registered entities, based on the preference and consent of the customers, thereby, balancing the interests of consumers with the need for supporting legitimate economic activities in the country. The revised regulations will enable TRAI in safeguarding consumer interests while promoting a more secure and trusted digital communication environment. All stakeholders, including businesses and telecom operators, are advised to align their systems with the amended framework to ensure seamless implementation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23190.60, up by 145.35 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 22992.20 and 23235.50. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.80%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.16%, JSW Steel up by 2.68%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.67% and Cipla up by 2.59%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 1.76%, Infosys down by 0.68%, Wipro down by 0.39%, TCS down by 0.33% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 428.21 points or 1.96% to 22,286.13, KOSPI increased 34.78 points or 1.35% to 2,583.17, Nikkei 225 surged 497.77 points or 1.26% to 39,461.47 and Taiwan Weighted added 109.66 points or 0.47% to 23,399.41, while Jakarta Composite plunged 70.3 points or 1.06% to 6,575.48, Shanghai Composite weakened 4.45 points or 0.13% to 3,341.94 and Straits Times fell 1.07 points or 0.03% to 3,873.55.