Markets off day’s highs; Power stocks loses shine

Trimming most of their gains, Indian equity benchmarks came off from their day’s high points in late afternoon session, but managed to keep their heads in green, supported by firm cues from European markets. Some support also came after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India plans to come out with a dedicated scheme to assist micro, small and medium enterprises in registering their products overseas. However, worries persisted among investors, as the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report stated that the World Bank has lowered India's growth forecast for FY26 to 6.3% from 6.7% estimated in January, though it's projected to remain one of the fastest growing economies globally. The country's FY27 growth is also seen 0.2 percentage point lower at 6.5%.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as Euro area investor morale rose to the highest level in a year in June, driven by the economic recovery in Germany. The survey data from the behavioral research institute Sentix showed that the investor sentiment index rose to +0.2 in June from -8.1 in May. Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after top U.S. and Chinese officials said they have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus, following two days of discussions in London.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82508.23, up by 116.51 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 82308.91 and 82783.51. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.20%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.84%, Energy up by 1.35%, IT up by 1.14%, TECK up by 0.94% and Healthcare up by 0.58%, while Power down by 0.78%, Utilities down by 0.75%, FMCG down by 0.56%, Industrials down by 0.53% and Capital Goods down by 0.47% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 2.99%, Infosys up by 1.86%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.73%, Reliance Industries up by 0.80% and Tata Motors up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.94%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.31%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.31%, Trent down by 0.80% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) meeting has asked regulators and departments to expedite the refund of unclaimed deposits to rightful owners and streamline the KYC process. She emphasised that interest of common citizens to be kept in mind and expeditiously refund the claims of the rightful claimants. She exhorted the Council to take proactive steps to ensure that citizens should have a seamless experience with respect to KYC processes across the financial sector.

She noted that there is a need for common KYC norms, simplification and digitalisation of the KYC process including digital onboarding for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) including PIOs and OCIs, in the Indian securities market. She urged the regulators and departments to expedite the process of refund to rightful owners of unclaimed amounts by holding special district-level camps. This drive is to be conducted in coordination with RBI, SEBI, MCA, PFRDA and IRDA along with banks, pension agencies, insurance companies etc.

The unclaimed amounts comprise deposits in banks; unclaimed shares and dividends are managed by IEPFA; and unclaimed insurance and pension funds are with IRDAI and PFRDA respectively. As per the latest RBI Annual Report, unclaimed deposits with banks have witnessed a 26 per cent jump year on year to Rs 78,213 crore at the end of March 2024. The amount with the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund stood at Rs 62,225 crore at the end of March 2023.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25135.20, up by 30.95 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 25081.30 and 25222.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 3.11%, Infosys up by 1.92%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.74%, Wipro up by 1.67% and ONGC up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.89%, Shriram Finance down by 1.65%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.31%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.29% and Bharat Electronics down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 204.07 points or 0.84% to 24,366.94, KOSPI increased 35.19 points or 1.21% to 2,907.04, Nikkei 225 surged 209.68 points or 0.55% to 38,421.19, Taiwan Weighted added 227.96 points or 1.01% to 22,470.10 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 17.5 points or 0.51% to 3,402.32, while Jakarta Composite plunged 20.05 points or 0.28% to 7,210.70 and Straits Times fell 12.56 points or 0.32% to 3,921.24. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 19.16 points or 0.22% to 8,872.24, France’s CAC rose 25.46 points or 0.33% to 7,829.79 and Germany’s DAX gained 64.77 points or 0.27% to 24,052.33.