Benchmarks end in green on Wednesday

Indian equity benchmarks managed to end volatile session in green terrain on Wednesday, helped by gains in Consumer Durables, FMCG and Healthcare stocks. Markets opened on a negative note and consolidated during most part of the day amid continuous foreign fund outflows. According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again turned sellers on Tuesday as they offloaded equities worth Rs 1,457.96 crore. Traders took a note of Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that India’s inflation must show signs of settling around the central bank’s target of 4 percent on a sustainable basis before a rate cut can be considered. The inflation rate in July eased below the RBI’s target for the first time since 2019, but the central bank expects it to climb back again from September.   

However, markets saw selective buying in the final hour and ended with marginal gains as traders took some support with the Labour Ministry’s statement that retirement fund body EPFO has registered a net addition of 19.29 lakh members in June 2024. The ministry stated that a year-over-year analysis showed a 7.86 per cent growth in net member additions compared to June 2023. It noted this surge in membership can be attributed to numerous factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO’s outreach programmes. Some support also came as Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, executive director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that Indian economy is slated to grow to $55 trillion by 2047, if the country is able to register an average real growth rate of 8 per cent in the coming years with average inflation remaining around 5 per cent. But, cautious trend in global equities ahead of the release of US Fed minutes restricted the gains in domestic markets.   

On the global front, Asian markets finished mostly lower on Wednesday as cautious undertone prevailed ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes and preliminary revisions to U.S. labor data later in the day that could provide greater clarity on monetary policy easing. Investors also braced for Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming keynote speech at the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday. European markets were trading higher amid signs of easing Middle East tensions and growing expectations of a Fed rate cut in September. Back home, on the sectoral front, telecom sector stocks remained in watch as the data revealed in the latest annual report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed that the Indian telecom sector has achieved growth during the financial year 2023-2024. It reveals that India’s overall teledensity rose from 84.51 per cent at the end of March 2023 to 85.69 per cent at the end of March 2024, marking an annual growth rate of 1.39 per cent. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex jumped 102.44 points or 0.13% to 80,905.30, and the CNX Nifty was up by 71.35 points or 0.29% to 24,770.20.     

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 80,952.83 and 80,626.38 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.87%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.56%, FMCG up by 1.33%, Healthcare up by 0.94%, Metal up by 0.73% and Telecom up by 0.66%, while Realty down by 1.31%, Power down by 0.17%, Bankex down by 0.17% and Utilities down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.45%, Asian Paints up by 1.60%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.43%, Nestle up by 1.30% and ITC up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.51%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.41%, Tata Steel down by 1.36%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.10% and HDFC Bank down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Labour Ministry has said that Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has registered a net addition of 19.29 lakh members in June 2024. It stated that a year-over-year analysis showed a 7.86 per cent growth in net member additions compared to June 2023. This surge in membership can be attributed to numerous factors, including increased employment opportunities, a growing awareness of employee benefits, and the effectiveness of EPFO’s outreach programmes. 

The payroll data indicates that around 10.25 lakh new members have been enrolled during June 2024. There is an increase of 4.08 per cent in the new members from May 2024 and a 1.05 per cent rise against June 2023. A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 59.14 per cent of the total new members added in June 2024. This aligns with the earlier trend, which indicates that most individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers. It also highlights that approximately 14.15 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This figure depicts year-on-year growth of 11.79 per cent compared to June 2023. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveils that out of new members added during the month, around 2.98 lakh are new female members. This figure exhibits year-on-year growth of 5.88 per cent compared to June 2023. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 4.28 lakh, reflecting an annual growth of 8.91 per cent compared to June 2023. The surge in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce. State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is highest in the five states/ UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Haryana. These states constitute around 61.16 per cent of net member addition, adding a total of 11.8 lakh net members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 21.09 per cent of net members during the month.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 24,787.95 and 24,654.50. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.70%, Titan Company up by 2.42%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.24%, Grasim Industries up by 2.02% and Cipla up by 1.99%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.26%, Tata Steel down by 1.25%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.14%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.95% and HDFC Bank down by 0.59% were the top losers. 

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 15.24 points or 0.18% to 8,288.56, France’s CAC rose 26.03 points or 0.35% to 7,511.76 and Germany’s DAX gained 60.57 points or 0.33% to 18,418.09.

Asian markets finished mostly lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the US interest rate policy direction from minutes of the Fed's July meeting due to be published later today and US Fed Chair Powell's keynote speech on Friday. Japanese shares declined after data showed that the country’s balance of trade fell back into the red in July, while the yen strengthened back to the 145 levels per dollar and dimmed the outlook for exporters. Hong Kong shares fell as shares of e-commerce giant JD.com tumbled after its biggest shareholder Walmart sold its stake in the firm.