Markets trade higher with decent gains in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made optimistic start on Thursday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street as well as continued fall in crude oil prices on demand concerns. Besides, minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting hinted at potential rate cuts amid signs of easing inflation and a rising unemployment rate, also supported domestic indices. Markets are trading higher with decent gains in early deals led by buying in telecom sector stocks. Sensex and Nifty are hovering above their crucial physiological levels of 81,100 and 24,800, respectively. Some support came as Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India and Africa should target doubling two-way trade to $200 billion in seven years and try to include more African countries in the partnership so that its full potential is reached. However, upside remained capped amid foreign fund outflows. As per NSE data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 799.74 crore. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly lower as traders are a bit cautious after revised data showed US job growth was weaker than previously reported in the twelve months ended March 2024, raising some concerns about growth. However, there are expectations the US Fed will cut interest rate next month. The US Fed also released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which seemingly provided additional support for expectations of an interest rate cut in September.

Back home, gem and jewellery sector stocks are in focus as Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said the overall gem and jewellery exports witnessed a 21.93 per cent year-on-year decline in July to $ 1,665.4 million (Rs 13,922.03 crore) on account of dampening of consumer demand following global unrest. In stock specific development, Paras Defence and Space Technologies traded with traction after the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) granted an industrial license to the company to establish an industrial undertaking for manufacturing several items.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81111.69, up by 206.39 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 81013.58 and 81236.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.86%, Basic Materials up by 0.82%, Consumer Durables up by 0.58%, FMCG up by 0.56% and TECK up by 0.51%, while Utilities down by 0.46%, Power down by 0.36% and Realty down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.01%, Infosys up by 0.76%, Tata Steel up by 0.66%, Asian Paints up by 0.65% and SBI up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.45%, TCS down by 0.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.46%, NTPC down by 0.43% and Tata Motors down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said there is a huge potential to increase economic cooperation between India and Africa as both regions can look at doubling two-way trade to $200 billion in the next seven years. Goyal said the main sectors where businesses of the two sides can collaborate include agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mining, tourism, auto, critical minerals, and renewable energy. He said ‘I would like to suggest six areas for collaboration and cooperation as a way forward to take this relationship to the next level’, and added that ‘can we look at doubling our trade. So far we have only a few African countries who trade with India’. He said as many as 33 countries do not participate in the duty free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme of India.

He said ‘Can we look at getting more and more countries to enjoy the fruits of this partnership and set a benchmark to double this trade number from $100 billion to $200 billion between India and Africa. I think we should look at doing that in seven years’. He added that opportunities are there in increasing collaborations in the IT sector as India can help African nations in infrastructure development, health, and financial inclusion needs. He said ‘There is a potential in the entertainment sector also given our mutual strengths. Sports also, we can increase cooperation’, added that mineral rich Africa can complement India's increasing needs for critical minerals, particularly for the EV sector.

Critical minerals, such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, from wind turbines to electric cars. Critical minerals are particularly in demand for the production of batteries for electric cars. He said sustainable practices in mining can become an area of collaboration and value addition in minerals both in India can be taken through joint partnerships. He said ‘On food security, India has several offerings for Africa and we have demand for oil seeds, pulses, lentils’. He added that both sides are working towards increasing cooperation in MSMEs and startups ecosystem.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24830.85, up by 60.65 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 24798.85 and 24867.35. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 2.27%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.69%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.19%, Infosys up by 0.82% and Asian Paints up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.35%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.97%, Tata Motors down by 0.49%, TCS down by 0.48% and NTPC down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 95.94 points or 0.43% to 22,141.95, Jakarta Composite plunged 39.59 points or 0.52% to 7,515.00, Straits Times fell 11.9 points or 0.35% to 3,361.86, KOSPI dropped 3.57 points or 0.13% to 2,697.56 and Shanghai Composite weakened 1.02 points or 0.04% to 2,855.56. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 167.2 points or 0.44% to 38,119.00 and Hang Seng was up by 69.53 points or 0.4% to 17,460.54.