Benchmarks conclude Tuesday's session in green

Indian equity benchmarks concluded Tuesday's session in green, with Sensex and Nifty managed to close above their crucial psychological levels of 73,100 and 22,200, respectively, primarily fueled by buying activity across sectors. Markets made a cautious start but soon turned volatile due to uncertainty surrounding the general election results. Some concern also came as exchange data showed that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,498.92 crore on Monday. However, markets soon gained traction and traded higher throughout the day, as market participants took encouragement with the government data showing that retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April as prices of some kitchen items declined though overall food basket firmed up marginally. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 4.85 per cent in March. Traders took a note of report that the government is working on a verification system to help exporters deal with countervailing duty cases on domestic products over the RODTEP scheme. The exercise is important as countervailing or anti-subsidy duties were imposed on certain domestic units by the US and European Union (EU). 

Sentiments remained firm during late afternoon deals amid a private report stating that over 514 million employments were generated between 2014 and 2024 out of which 197.9 million was as a result of governance-led interventions and 316.1 million due to credit-led interventions. Traders overlooked data showing that inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of April 2024 to 1.26% from 0.53% in March 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc. The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased 1.97% to 186.7 (provisional) in April 2024 from 183.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, on the back of rise in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas and food articles. 

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red, as traders remained cautious ahead of key US inflation data, including producer and consumer price inflation, due later in the day that could offer more clarity on the US Fed's interest rate trajectory. Asian markets ended mostly in green on Tuesday even as cautious undertone prevailed ahead of key U.S. inflation data due this week.  

Back home, on the sectoral front, banking stocks remained in focus as Fitch Ratings said asset quality of Indian banks' consumer loans has held up well so far, but an accumulation of untested risks due to rapid growth may challenge lenders' underwriting standards and risk controls. Auto sector stocks also were in watch as the automobile industry body -- Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest data showed that India’s passenger vehicles (PV) wholesales rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year to 3,35,629 units in April 2024 as compared to PV dispatches of 3,31,278 units from companies to dealers in April 2023. It said PV wholesales in India rose to record levels in April driven by strong demand for utility vehicles.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 328.48 points or 0.45% to 73,104.61, and the CNX Nifty was up by 113.80 points or 0.51% points to 22,217.85. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 73,286.26 and 72,683.99 respectively. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.14%, while Small cap index was up by 1.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.80%, Power up by 2.51%, Industrials up by 2.40%, Telecom up by 2.27% and Metal up by 2.20%, while FMCG down by 0.36% and Healthcare down by 0.08% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.76%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.54%, JSW Steel up by 2.38%, NTPC up by 1.45% and Indusind Bank up by 1.28%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.14%, Nestle down by 1.05%, Axis Bank down by 0.94%, ICICI Bank down by 0.59% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the automobile industry body -- Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest data has showed that India’s passenger vehicles (PV) wholesales rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year to 3,35,629 units in April 2024 as compared to PV dispatches of 3,31,278 units from companies to dealers in April 2023. It said PV wholesales in India rose to record levels in April driven by strong demand for utility vehicles. 

As per the data, two-wheeler wholesales rose 31 per cent to 17,51,393 units last month, as compared to 13,38,588 units in April last year. Three-wheeler wholesales rose 14.5 per cent to 49,116 units last month, as against 42,885 units in April 2023. Utility vehicle sales stood at 1,79,329 units last month, up 21 per cent from 1,48,005 units in the same month last year. Passenger car dispatches, however, declined by 23 per cent to 96,357 units, as compared to 1,25,758 units in April 2023.

Van sales rose 15 per cent to 12,060 units last month, as against 10,508 units in April last year. Motorcycle wholesales stood at 11,28,192 units last month, up 34 per cent, as compared to 8,39,274 units in the same month last year. Scooter wholesales rose 25 per cent year-on-year to 5,81,277 units in April, as compared to 4,64,389 units in the same month last year. Three-wheeler wholesales rose 14.5 per cent to 49,116 units last month, as against 42,885 units in April 2023.

SIAM President Vinod Aggarwal said the current fiscal has started on a reasonably good note for the auto industry, as all the segments have posted growth in April 2024, compared to April 2023, driven by positive consumer sentiments and festivities during the month. He added ‘Above normal monsoon rainfall, policy continuity post-elections and government's push on manufacturing and infrastructure would propel the overall economic growth which would help in continuing the auto sector's growth trajectory’.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 22,270.05 and 22,081.25. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.01%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.37%, ONGC up by 2.85% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.46%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.99%, TCS down by 1.16%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.00%, Nestle down by 0.88% and Axis Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 8.6 points or 0.1% to 8,200.68 and Germany’s DAX lost 40.21 points or 0.21% to 18,702.01, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 6.59 points or 0.08% to 8,421.58.

Asian markets ended mostly in green on Tuesday despite muted cues from the US markets. Japanese stocks eked out modest gains, led by gains in the banking and mining sectors. However, Chinese markets ended slightly lower after a choppy session ahead of an expected announcement by the Biden administration on raising tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors, batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum. On the economic data front, producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in April, the Bank of Japan said - accelerating from 0.2 percent in March. On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 0.9 percent - unchanged from the previous month following an upward revision from 0.8 percent. Export prices were up 0.4 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices fell 0.1 percent on month and 4.3 percent on year.