Bourses continue to trade in green in early afternoon session

Indian markets continued to trade in green in early afternoon session with positive India’s retail inflation data. India’s retail inflation fell to a record low of 0.25 per cent in October following cut in GST rates on nearly 380 items of mass consumption coupled with subdued prices of vegetables, fruits and eggs. Investors took note of report that government approved two schemes worth Rs 45,000 crore to help exporters tide over the impact of high tariffs imposed by the US on Indian shipments. Sector wise, cement industry remained in limelight as rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that the Indian cement industry is going to add a grinding capacity of 160-170 million tonnes (MT) between FY26 and FY28 and invest around Rs 1.2 lakh crore in capex. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green ahead of the release of a barrage of US economic data after the US House of Representatives voted on a bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84829.52, up by 363.01 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 84253.05 and 84838.81. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.31%, Consumer Durables up by 1.17%, Metal up by 0.94%, Realty up by 0.83% and Utilities was up by 0.73%, while Capital Goods down by 0.24%, IT down by 0.14% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.60%, ICICI Bank up by 2.28%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.14%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.13% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 2.01%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 0.82%, TMCV down by 0.66%, Bharat Electronics down by 0.62%, and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Crisil in its latest report has said that the Indian cement industry is going to add a grinding capacity of 160-170 million tonnes (MT) between FY26 and FY28 and invest around Rs 1.2 lakh crore in capex. The report said compared to this capacity addition, it is almost 75 per cent up from the corresponding three previous fiscals, when the industry had added 95 MT. This growth in capacity addition is primarily fuelled by healthy demand outlook and high capacity utilisation.

The report said while this growth will entail substantial capital expenditure (capex), the risks associated will be lower because a sizeable proportion is brownfield and the majority of the expansion will be funded from healthy operating cashflows. It said consequently, the financial leverage of cement makers, as measured by the net debt to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) ratio, will remain steady, keeping credit profiles stable. Crisil's analysis is based on the performance of 17 cement makers, which account for 85 per cent of the 668 MT installed capacity as on March 31, 2025.

According to the report, the Indian cement industry is witnessing consolidation, with the top five producers snapping up smaller players, alongside their brownfield expansions. In the past three fiscals, cement saw robust demand, with volume clocking a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 per cent driven by key segments such as infrastructure and housing. As a result, capacity utilisation increased to 70 per cent last fiscal, compared with a decadal average of 65 per cent.

It further said 65 per cent of the capacity addition will be undertaken via brownfield projects, which require a shorter construction period with a limited land acquisition, resulting in lower capital cost and fewer implementation challenges. Cement makers are estimated to incur capex of Rs 1.2 lakh crore between fiscal 2026 and 2028 - around 50 per cent higher compared with the previous three fiscals -predominantly to fund the capacity additions. Moreover, the projected capex also includes 10-15 per cent outlay towards investments in green energy and cost efficiency improvement projects, which would support profitability.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25985.60, up by 109.80 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 25808.40 and 25987.60. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.80%, ICICI Bank up by 2.30%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.27%, Hindalco up by 1.71% and JIO Financial up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 1.89%, TMCV down by 1.29%, ONGC down by 1.14%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 0.70%, and Bharat Electronics down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 134.27 points or 0.5% to 27,057.00, Nikkei 225 surged 126.69 points or 0.25% to 51,190.00, KOSPI increased 31.98 points or 0.77% to 4,182.37, Shanghai Composite strengthened 29.36 points or 0.73% to 4,029.50 and Jakarta Composite was up by 8.21 points or 0.1% to 8,396.78. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 1.72 points or 0.04% to 4,567.19 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 43.53 points or 0.16% to 27,903.56.