Domestic Indices maintain gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets maintained their gains in late morning deals as market participants indulged in enlarging their positions. Buying in TCS, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Tata Motors and Power Grid companies’ stocks helped the markets to maintain their gains. Positive cues from the Global markets supported domestic sentiments. Traders overlooked private report that India's economic growth likely moderated and grew at its slowest pace in a year in the April-June quarter due to lower government spending amid a national election that concluded in June. In the April-June quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) was forecast to have grown an annual 6.9%, down from 7.8% in the preceding quarter.  All the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in green led by IT, Consumer Durables, TECK, Oil & Gas and Energy. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the time has come for the policy to adjust. Back home, in the stock specific development, Alembic Pharma surged after it received final approval from FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) Betamethasone Valerate Foam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81649.37, up by 563.16 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 81278.44 and 81820.23. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.24%, Consumer Durables up by 1.11%, TECK up by 1.10%, Oil & Gas up by 0.73% and Energy up by 0.69%, while there were no losers.  

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.34%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.31%, NTPC up by 1.24%, Tata Motors up by 1.21% and Power Grid up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 0.29%, Adani Ports down by 0.28%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.26%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.14% and ITC down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, former steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha has said that Indian steel market is hit by ‘unfair imports and dumping’ amid a demand slump in China and the government needs to take action in a time-bound manner. He also warned of the price realisations getting affected due to surging imports impacting the profitability of steel makers. To the extent the imports currently happening are unfair and there is dumping going on and the Indian government should certainly respond to them in a timeframe.

His statement assumes significance as local steel players have been raising the issue of imports for months from select countries including China. He said steelmakers have raised concern that India is becoming a net importer of steel against the aim to become a global supplier of the commodity. He also said 'duty prayers for imposition of the duty are being considered at a longer timeframe for about a year and a half that is not going help industry at least give them a fair hearing'.

On August 16, 2024, the government initiated an anti-dumping probe into the import of hot-rolled steel products from Vietnam following a complaint by a domestic industry. The commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is probing the alleged dumping of 'hot rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel'. According to the DGTR notification, Indian Steel Association has filed an application on behalf of domestic producers - JSW Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India - seeking initiation of an anti-dumping investigation on imports from Vietnam.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24991.85, up by 168.70 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 24874.70 and 25043.80. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.20%, Hindalco up by 2.07%, Wipro up by 1.89%, LTIMindtree up by 1.57% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.42%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 0.62%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.57%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.52%, Adani Ports down by 0.47% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 138.35 points or 0.79% to 17,750.45, Jakarta Composite gained 31.5 points or 0.42% to 7,575.80, Straits Times rose 1.2 points or 0.04% to 3,389.19 and Taiwan Weighted added 9.38 points or 0.04% to 22,167.43. However, Shanghai Composite weakened 7.45 points or 0.26% to 2,846.92, KOSPI dropped 4.87 points or 0.18% to 2,696.82 and Nikkei 225 slipped 292.25 points or 0.76% to 38,072.02.