Key gauges continue to trade in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in morning deals driven by buying in blue-chip IT stocks and a firm trend in Asian equity markets. Traders took support as report stated that the negotiations for the proposed India-Oman free trade agreement (FTA) are nearing conclusion with both sides discussing the last issue of the Gulf country's labour-related 'Omanisation' policy, as New Delhi wants the current regime to remain unchanged for its workers. Traders took a note of Moody's Ratings’ report stated that China drove global oil demand growth over the last decade, but now India is poised to take the lead in demand growth over the next decade. China and India are the No. 2 and No. 3 oil consumers in the world. But there are notable differences in demand growth in the two countries. Traders overlooked the provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers of Indian equities after a day of buying on Thursday, as they offload stocks worth Rs 5,045.36 crore. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as U.S. Treasury yields eased from recent highs on improved economic data and comments from a Federal Reserve official that he still sees a path to interest rate cuts later this year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81458.29, up by 506.30 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 80897.00 and 81625.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.50%, FMCG up by 1.35%, TECK up by 1.16%, Oil & Gas up by 0.40% and Energy up by 0.39%, while Healthcare down by 0.29% and Consumer Durables down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.44%, ITC up by 2.17%, Infosys up by 1.89%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.70% and HCL Technologies up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.09%, Indusind Bank down by 0.49%, Tata Motors down by 0.24% and NTPC down by 0.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody's Ratings in its latest report has said that China drove global oil demand growth over the last decade, but now India is poised to take the lead in demand growth over the next decade. China and India are the No. 2 and No. 3 oil consumers in the world. But there are notable differences in demand growth in the two countries.

It stated demand growth and import reliance will be higher in India. It said ‘Demand will grow faster in India than in China over the next decade, as China's economic growth slows and penetration of new energy vehicles accelerates. Consumption of crude oil - the raw material for making fuels like petrol and diesel - in China will peak in the next 3-5 years, while in India, Moody's expect annual growth of 3-5% in the same period.

Stating that both countries rely heavily on oil and gas imports, the rating agency said it expects China's reliance on oil imports to fall, reflecting slower demand growth and increased domestic production. India's reliance on imports will increase if it is unable to stem a production decline. Moody's said China's larger oil and gas consumption underpins the scale of its national oil companies (NOCs), which will likely outpace their Indian peers in production growth over the next 3-5 years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24774.70, up by 165.00 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 24614.05 and 24826.65. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eternal up by 2.57%, ITC up by 2.15%, Infosys up by 2.05%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.76% and HCL Technologies up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.97%, Indusind Bank down by 0.49%, Hindalco down by 0.39%, Tata Motors down by 0.28% and ICICI Bank down by 0.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 169.73 points or 0.46% to 37,155.60, Hang Seng advanced 135.68 points or 0.57% to 23,679.99, Jakarta Composite gained 25.99 points or 0.36% to 7,192.97 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.77 points or 0.08% to 3,382.96.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 85.72 points or 0.4% to 21,585.24, KOSPI dropped 1.25 points or 0.05% to 2,592.42 and Straits Times fell 6.85 points or 0.18% to 3,873.24.