Key indices remain in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some gains but continued to trade higher in morning deals, led by gains in IT, TECK and Banking stocks. Investors' sentiment remained firm amid foreign fund inflows and a sharp rally in the US markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,055.76 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Some support also came as the commerce ministry said Indian and US officials will hold discussions this week to expand and deepen bilateral trade ties in a mutually beneficial manner and enhance supply chain integration. It said as directed by the leaders of the two countries, India remains committed to working with the US side in the trade and economic domains to enhance prosperity, and innovation and deepen supply chain integration between the two countries.  

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green, after US equities enjoyed one of their best sessions of the year, fueled by signs that President Donald Trump’s trade sanctions will be narrower than feared. Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to Tea sector remained in watch as president of Confederation of India Small Tea Growers Association (CISTA), Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty said small tea growers (STGs) across the country expressed hope that they would be treated at par with the farmers for availing benefits under various welfare schemes meant for the agriculture sector. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78391.60, up by 407.22 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 78085.53 and 78741.69. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.68%, while Small cap index was down by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.16%, TECK up by 0.85%, Bankex up by 0.33% and FMCG up by 0.20%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.22%, Telecom down by 0.99%, Realty down by 0.90%, Energy down by 0.82% and Oil & Gas down by 0.79% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.41%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.43%, Infosys up by 2.20%, HDFC Bank up by 1.88% and HCL Technologies up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 3.64%, Indusind Bank down by 3.61%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.08%, Reliance Industries down by 0.58% and Tata Steel down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that private capital expenditure's share in the overall investments in the economy dipped to a decadal low of 33 per cent in FY24. According to report, among the private companies, it was the unlisted players which were subdued in investments as compared to the listed entities. It can be noted that for the last few years, the government has been driving investments, leading to concerns in some quarters over the private sector's absence and its impact on the overall economic activity. The private sector has instead focused on deploying excess cash at reducing loan burdens rather than investing in new facilities, choosing to run at high-capacity utilisation.  

Illustrating the importance of investments in the economy, it said Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF), encompassing the gross addition to fixed assets and intangibles, constitutes around 30 per cent of India's nominal GDP, making it the second largest component after private final consumption expenditure. The GFCF has been slowing down since FY23, largely due to the slowdown in the private sector's activity, the agency said, adding that government capex and household investments in real estate have helped it. 

Further, it said the listed corporates increased their capex spending by 28 per cent in FY23 and 12 per cent in FY24, but the unlisted entities experienced a contraction in FY24, dragging overall private capex growth. Besides, it stated the cash generation of corporates has consistently improved, post the Covid shock, with the ratio of cash flow from operations vis-a-vis capex increasing to 1.6 times in FY2024 from an average of 1.3 times from FY2014 to FY2020. This has also led to a steady reduction in gearing levels to 0.9 times in FY2024 from 1.1 times in FY2014.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23781.05, up by 122.70 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 23664.90 and 23869.60. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.44%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.58%, Infosys up by 2.14%, HDFC Bank up by 1.91% and HCL Technologies up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.70%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 3.25%, Shriram Finance down by 1.36%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.12% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 165.5 points or 0.44% to 37,773.99, Taiwan Weighted added 199.85 points or 0.9% to 22,306.49, Straits Times rose 31.4 points or 0.8% to 3,967.73 and Jakarta Composite gained 65.01 points or 1.06% to 6,226.23.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.98 points or 0.18% to 3,364.05, Hang Seng declined 517.7 points or 2.21% to 23,387.86 and KOSPI dropped 15.18 points or 0.58% to 2,616.89.