Bourses trade in fine fettle in early afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their fine fettle trade in early afternoon session after the US Fed announced its widely expected decision to again leave interest rates unchanged. Traders took note of report that Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has stated that there remains significant untapped potential for economic growth and trade expansion in India’s economic engagement with the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. He said the India-LAC partnership is not just about business but also about cultural exchanges, shared traditions, and a collective commitment to preserving heritage. He noted that the passion for festivals, sporting spirit, and rich histories of both regions provide a strong foundation for enhanced economic collaboration. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly higher after China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the fifth straight month, as widely expected. The People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.10 percent. Likewise, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 3.60 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75965.49, up by 516.44 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 75684.58 and 76013.82. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.68%, Auto up by 1.43%, Oil & Gas up by 1.40%, IT up by 1.40% and Telecom was up by 1.25%, while Industrials down by 0.17%, Power down by 0.10% and Capital Goods was down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 3.82%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.79%, TCS up by 1.87%, HCL Tech up by 1.81% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.61%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.11%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.02%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.51%, Indusind Bank down by 0.43% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has revised two schemes -- National Program for Dairy Development (NPDD) and Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), raising the total outlay to Rs 6,190 crore to boost milk production, procurement level, processing capacity, lab testing facilities and other related infrastructure. 

The Revised NPDD, a Central Sector Scheme, has been enhanced with an additional Rs 1,000 crore, bringing the total budget to Rs 2,790 crore for the period of the 15th Finance Commission cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26). This initiative focuses on modernising and expanding dairy infrastructure, ensuring the sector's sustained growth and productivity. The revised NPDD will give an impetus to the dairy sector by creating infrastructure for milk procurement, processing capacity, and ensuring better quality control. It is intended to help farmers gain better access to markets, ensure better pricing through value addition, and improve the efficiency of the supply chain. 

The Cabinet also approved the Revised RGM to boost growth in the livestock sector. Implementation of revised RGM, as central sector component of Development Programmes scheme is being done with an additional outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, that is total outlay of Rs 3,400 crore during 15th Finance Commission cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Under the RGM, two new activities have been added, a) one-time assistance of 35 per cent of the capital cost for establishment of Heifer Rearing Centres to Implementing Agencies for creation of 30 housing facilities having a total of 15,000 heifers; (b) encourage farmers to purchase high genetic merit (HGM) IVF heifers to provide 3 per cent interest subvention on loan taken by the farmer from milk unions/financial institutions/ banks. This will help in systemic induction of high-yielding breeds. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23075.30, up by 167.70 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 22973.95 and 23083.45. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 3.80%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.80%, Eicher Motors up by 2.77%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.41% and BPCL up by 2.39%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 0.98%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.95%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.56%, Adani Ports down by 0.55% and Indusind Bank down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly higher; Taiwan Weighted added 416.43 points or 1.86% to 22,377.26, Jakarta Composite gained 78.63 points or 1.23% to 6,390.29, Straits Times rose 28.2 points or 0.72% to 3,936.51 and KOSPI was up by 8.48 points or 0.32% to 2,637.10. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 19.84 points or 0.58% to 3,406.59 and Hang Seng was down by 504.03 points or 2.08% to 24,267.11.