Benchmarks continue to trade higher in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade higher in morning deals, following a sharp rally in global markets along with buying in Realty, IT and TECK stocks. Traders took support as Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and G20 Sherpa, highlighted India’s rapid transformation into the third-best startup ecosystem globally, with 135 unicorns and over 1.4 lakh startups. Some support came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the government is taking steps to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, and he called for improving the quality of products and services to attain international standards. Sector-wise, pharma stocks remained in watch after a report that India's medicine and antibiotics exports have started gaining significant market share in the US, with the Union government focusing on boosting domestic manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher as strong retail sales data and lower-than-expected weekly jobless claims figures helped ease fears of a looming recession in the United States.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79534.09, up by 428.21 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 79509.59 and 79988.22. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.95%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.70%, IT up by 1.69%, TECK up by 1.29%, Auto up by 0.91% and Oil & Gas up by 0.83%, while Power down by 0.12% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.29%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.15%, Tata Motors up by 2.13%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.50% and HCL Technologies up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 0.56%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.41%, Asian Paints down by 0.35%, NTPC down by 0.32% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has said that India's textiles and apparel exports in July 2024 grew by 4.73 per cent to $2,937.56 million compared to the same month last year mainly driven by an increase in demand for apparels. Textiles and apparel exports stood at $ 2,805.01 million in July 2023.

It stated while the textile exports were steady at $ 1,660.36 million in July compared to $ 1,663.06 million, apparel shipments during the month surged by 11.84 per cent to $ 1,277.20 million from $ 1,141.95 million during the same time last year. CITI Chairman Rakesh Mehra said This year has shown promising progress for India's T&A exports, particularly when compared to last year. The growth in exports is largely attributed to the expanding share of Indian apparel in key markets such as the US, alongside increased exports to the European Union and the UK.  

The industry, he said, remains optimistic about export orders in the upcoming months, and is poised to further leverage the concluded Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) like the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) and the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). He added these agreements are expected to provide additional momentum to our exports. The industry anticipates continued growth and is strategically positioning itself to capitalise on these opportunities, ensuring that India remains a key player in the global textiles and apparel market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24280.35, up by 136.60 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24267.70 and 24403.55. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.76%, LTIMindtree up by 2.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.41%, Shriram Finance up by 2.41% and TCS up by 2.21%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.27%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.50%, Titan Company down by 0.55%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.53% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.47% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 288.47 points or 1.66% to 17,397.61, Jakarta Composite gained 39.52 points or 0.53% to 7,449.02, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.65 points or 0.09% to 2,880.01, Straits Times rose 36.13 points or 1.09% to 3,351.86, KOSPI increased 45.82 points or 1.73% to 2,690.32, Nikkei 225 surged 1050.33 points or 2.86% to 37,776.97 and Taiwan Weighted added 438.45 points or 2% to 22,333.62.