Key gauges remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals as fresh foreign fund inflows supported investors' sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,239.14 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Traders took support as Employees' Provident Fund Organization’s (EPFO) provisional payroll data for January 2025 revealed a net addition of 17.89 lakh members in the month of January, exhibiting 11.67% Y-o-Y growth. EPFO has stated that this 11.67% Y-o-Y growth signifies employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives. Some support also came with Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s statement that oil and gas companies will not face any new taxes like the windfall profits tax after the coming into effect of a new law that promises stability of fiscal regime. Parliament has passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2024 that provides policy stability to investors, decriminalises provisions and promotes ease of doing business. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as investors anxiously awaited Donald Trump’s next trade war salvo, following a busy week of central bank meetings that further frayed nerves. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76599.71, up by 251.65 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 76095.26 and 76616.38. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.96%, while Small cap index was up by 1.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.15%, Utilities up by 1.49%, Telecom up by 1.36%, Industrials up by 1.35% and Healthcare up by 1.16%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.02% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.97%, Sun Pharma up by 1.48%, Power Grid up by 1.41%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.29% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.34%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.91%, Zomato down by 0.67%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.63% and Titan Company down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Employees' Provident Fund Organization’s (EPFO) provisional payroll data for January 2025 has revealed a net addition of 17.89 lakh members in the month of January, exhibiting 11.67% Y-o-Y growth. EPFO has stated that this 11.67% Y-o-Y growth signifies employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits, bolstered by EPFO’s effective outreach initiatives. It has stated that EPFO enrolled around 8.23 lakh new subscribers in January 2025 with subscribers from 18-25 age group contributing in 4.70 lakh new subscriptions constituting a significant 57.07% of the total new subscribers added in January. Further, the net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for January 2025 is approximately 7.27 lakh, reflecting an increase of 6.19% compared to December 2024 and an 8.15% growth Y-o-Y. This is in consonance with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers, EPFO added.

The payroll data highlights that around 15.03 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO, reflecting a 23.55% Y-o-Y growth as these members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection. The Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of the total new subscribers added during the month, around 2.17 lakhs are new female subscribers exhibiting 6.01%Y-o-Y growth, while the net female payroll addition during the month stood at around 3.44 lakh, reflecting increase of 13.48% Y-o-Y. The growth in female member additions is a indication of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

The industry wise month on month comparison of data indicates significant growth in the net payroll addition working in establishments engaged in industries like expert services, financing establishment, and road motor transport, among others. The expert services consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services and miscellaneous activities contributed 39.86% in total net payroll addition.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23298.90, up by 108.25 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 23132.80 and 23299.45. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.81%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.37%, Coal India up by 2.06%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.86% and Apollo Hospital up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.46%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.93%, Wipro down by 0.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.61% and Titan Company down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted lost 75.81 points or 0.34% to 22,301.45, Hang Seng declined 486.93 points or 2.05% to 23,733.02, Jakarta Composite plunged 136.52 points or 2.19% to 6,245.15 and Shanghai Composite weakened 31.99 points or 0.95% to 3,376.96.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 64.87 points or 0.17% to 37,816.75, KOSPI increased 5.78 points or 0.22% to 2,642.88 and Straits Times rose 1.9 points or 0.05% to 3,932.39.