Markets continue to trade higher during late afternoon deals

Benchmarks continued to trade in the positive territory during late afternoon deals as Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller’s comments helped ease rising worries about interest rate hike this month. He indicated that a rate hike would not be warranted if underlying inflation continues to moderate. Further, bargain hunters opted to pick up stocks at lower levels following four consecutive sessions of losses.

While both indices continued to trade well above the neutral lines, Sensex has outpaced the Nifty in terms of gains. Sensex was trading with gains of around three-quarters of a percent supported by strong buying among large cap private banks and Reliance Industries, while Nifty was trading with gains of just three-tenth of a percent, weighed by weakness among most of FMCG, Pharmaceutical and IT stocks.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green as concerns over U.S. interest-rate hikes eased and focus shifted to the all-important U.S. jobs report later in the day. European equity markets were trading mostly in red as brent crude oil prices continued to trade above the $95 a barrel mark as U.S. ruled out talks with Iran.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76714.06, up by 561.20 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 76529.50 and 76883.14. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.79%, Telecom up by 1.71%, Basic Materials up by 0.82%, Energy up by 0.54% and Bankex up by 0.52%, while Realty down by 0.75%, Capital Goods down by 0.41%, Healthcare down by 0.37%, FMCG down by 0.12% and Auto down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.97%, Reliance Industries up by 2.09%, Trent up by 1.83%, HDFC Bank up by 1.66% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Eternal down by 1.33%, HCL Technologies down by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.74%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.49% and Asian Paints down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to unlock new avenues of growth, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that the Indian automotive industry should leverage the country's expanding trade partnerships, growing domestic market and global shifts in manufacturing. He called for deeper localisation, increased investment in technology, innovation and research and development, and stronger export capabilities, while urging the industry to prepare itself to serve global markets. Besides, Goyal highlighted the automotive sector’s potential to become one of the major engines of India’s growth in the coming years. He pointed to the industry’s strong growth performance and said rising incomes and aspirations offered considerable scope for this growth to continue.

The Minister said India should not be satisfied with merely serving the domestic market and urged companies to think globally. He said global competition would intensify as more global car companies come to India and stressed that companies must use economies of scale in India to serve markets across the world. He observed that production would increasingly shift out of developed countries because of unaffordable costs, regulatory overburden, shortage of youth and talent, and inadequate industrial capacities. Companies that anticipate these changes, plan for the future and seize emerging opportunities would benefit, while those remaining in the comfort of their existing businesses and markets risked being left behind.

The Minister further said that India had made a best effort through intense negotiations with the European Union and that the support extended by international companies during the negotiations was noteworthy. He said the outcome provided opportunities for bilateral and multilateral trade, growing exports, improved technology absorption and adoption of the latest technologies, and urged companies to take full advantage of these opportunities. The Minister said India’s expanding trade partnerships are creating a vast new opportunity landscape for the automotive industry. He highlighted the conclusion of nine trade agreements over the past four and a half years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, covering economies with a combined GDP of around $60 trillion. He said this represented a major shift in India's approach, reflecting the self-confidence of New India, the pace of reforms and the transformation of India's ecosystem.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23956.35, up by 82.90 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 23895.85 and 24005.75. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 2.78%, Tata Steel up by 2.63%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.13%, Reliance Industries up by 1.96% and JSW Steel up by 1.68%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.52%, Coal India down by 1.45%, Maruti Suzuki India down by 1.26%, Cipla down by 1.04% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 842.52 points or 1.3% to 65,057.00, Taiwan Weighted added 693.47 points or 1.49% to 46,551.13, Hang Seng advanced 442.69 points or 1.73% to 25,656.00, KOSPI increased 107.73 points or 1.61% to 6,687.21 and Straits Times rose 59.11 points or 1.02% to 5,806.82, while Shanghai Composite weakened 11.97 points or 0.3% to 3,930.12 and Jakarta Composite plunged 24.5 points or 0.37% to 6,643.39.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.45 points or 0% to 10,831.07 and France’s CAC fell 6.5 points or 0.08% to 8,279.90, while Germany’s DAX gained 12.38 points or 0.05% to 26,015.70.