Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains but continued to trade higher in morning deals, tracking a significant rally in the U.S. and Asian markets along with buying in Realty, Auto and TECK stocks.  Traders took support as the Reserve Bank of India said India's current account deficit (CAD)- excess of imports of goods and services over exports, would be manageable. However, there was some cautiousness with the Reserve Bank's household inflation expectation survey indicating that Indian households have turned hawkish on inflation compared to their perception in May this year.  Sector-wise, healthcare Industry’s stocks remained in watch as rating agency ICRA expects the aggregate occupancy for its hospital industry’s sample set companies to remain strong at 61-63% in FY2025 (64.7% in FY2024) backed by sustained healthy demand for healthcare services and continued market share gains for organised players. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following positive momentum from Wall Street. The rise was driven by new US labour market data that improved investor sentiment and eased recession concerns, which had emerged after a significant market sell-off earlier in the week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79626.95, up by 740.73 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 79549.09 and 79984.24. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.52%, Auto up by 1.48%, TECK up by 1.40%, IT up by 1.40% and Consumer Discretionary up by 1.08%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.09%, HCL Technologies up by 2.12%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.92%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.88% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.16% and ITC down by 0.13% were the few losers.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, at the India International Footwear Fair (IIFF) 2024, has asked the footwear manufacturers to aim $50 billion export target by 2030. As per industry estimates, India’s footwear exports are now at a mere $2 billion. India is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of footwear, and Goyal said the country has to become the world’s largest manufacturer going ahead.

He told the industry people ‘Today you are creating more than 40 lakh jobs. My own sense is, this will go up to 1 crore jobs. You have the ability. We have the market. We have the world market to capture. It only needs a little bit of self-confidence, open mind to accept change. Change is always a little difficult initially.’

Footwear sector almost contributes 2 per cent to GDP, and it employs 40 per cent women. Nearly 90-95 per cent of the manufacturers are MSMEs. He requested the footwear markers to leverage the free trade agreements (FTAs) that India has already signed with various countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24328.65, up by 211.65 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 24315.90 and 24419.75. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 4.49%, Tata Motors up by 3.03%, HCL Technologies up by 2.12%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.97% and ONGC up by 1.89%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.92%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.30%, Cipla down by 0.26%, Indusind Bank down by 0.20% and ITC down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 299.6 points or 1.74% to 17,191.43, Jakarta Composite gained 42.13 points or 0.58% to 7,237.25, Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.57 points or 0.12% to 2,873.47, KOSPI increased 20.47 points or 0.8% to 2,577.20 and Taiwan Weighted added 692.55 points or 3.32% to 21,562.65. 

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 199.52 points or 0.57% to 34,631.63.