Key gauges continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, amid sustained foreign fund inflows, a sharp drop in crude oil prices. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,769.81 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Some support also came as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Dr V Anantha Nageswaran expressed confidence in the economy's resilience and said India's economy is in good shape despite the challenging global environment. Sector-wise, Auto stocks remained in watch as Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations (FADA) said overall automobile retail sales in India grew a modest 2.95 per cent in April this year to 22,87,952 units with completion of purchases by customers around Chaitra Navratri, Akshay Tritiya, Bengali New Year, Baisakhi and Vishu helping April end on a positive note. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as the latest U.S. jobs data came in better than expected, easing fears of a potential recession.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80886.41, up by 384.42 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 80657.71 and 81009.64. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.33%, Energy up by 1.08%, Consumer Durables up by 1.08%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.07% and Telecom up by 1.01%, while Bankex down by 0.73% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.28%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.73%, Asian Paints up by 2.51%, Eternal up by 1.99% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 5.22%, SBI down by 1.69%, NTPC down by 0.76%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.52% and Axis Bank down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's arm Agricultural and Processed Food Products Authority (APEDA) is mulling formulation of strategies to boost export of agricultural and processed food products from India. The APEDA held an inter-ministerial dialogue to deliberate on the strategy. 

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the government is committed to reducing logistical barriers and enhancing market access for Indian agri and processed food products. He added that academia and research institutions must be part of multi-sectoral consultations so that research and development can be a major focus for innovation and sustainability in agri exports. Agricultural production and productivity both are the need of the hour, the secretary has said, adding the ministry will further deliberate on the ideas and strategies discussed during the sessions. 

Besides, Secretary of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries Subrata Gupta highlighted the importance of infrastructure development and value addition to ensure sustainable export growth. He emphasised that there is a need to develop infrastructure, sanitary and phytosanitary standards on par with international norms, tariff plans and more synergy between the Union, state governments, various departments and industry stakeholders.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24477.05, up by 130.35 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 24400.65 and 24511.30. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.23%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 4.31%, Trent up by 3.54%, Shriram Finance up by 2.95% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.71%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 5.27%, ONGC down by 1.93%, SBI down by 1.73%, JSW Steel down by 0.82% and NTPC down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 4 points or 0.1% to 3,849.14 and Jakarta Composite gained 34.38 points or 0.5% to 6,850.11, while Taiwan Weighted lost 159.82 points or 0.77% to 20,627.82.