Indices add some gains in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks added some gains in early afternoon deals, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with buying at Metal and Auto counters. Sentiments remained optimistic, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India's external debt-to-GDP ratio at 18.7%, its debt service ratio at 6.7% and foreign exchange reserves-to-external debt ratio at 97.4% are within the comfort zone and way better than many middle-income countries. Besides, India marked 10 years of 'Make in India' initiative, which was launched on September 25, 2014. On this occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal noted significant progress in manufacturing, increased investments, and job creation.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country has largely recovered the financial stresses of the past few years, minutes from the central bank's meeting on July 30-31 revealed on Thursday - and the economy is likely to continue to grow. The minutes added that Japan's financial conditions have been accommodative. Exports and industrial production have been fairly flat, but employment and corporate profits have increased.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 85465.63, up by 295.76 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 85106.74 and 85524.76. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.54%, while Small cap index was down by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.26%, Auto up by 1.08%, Basic Materials up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.57% and TECK up by 0.35%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.97%, Realty down by 0.81%, Capital Goods down by 0.69%, Power down by 0.65% and Industrials down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.57%, Tata Motors up by 2.18%, Nestle up by 2.17%, Tata Steel up by 1.79% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.14%, NTPC down by 0.77%, Power Grid down by 0.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.32% and Titan down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that India’s natural diamond polishing industry is poised to see a decline in revenue to a decadal low of around $12 billion during the current financial year (FY25). It said that the decline in revenues will be mainly on account of three reasons - muted demand in key export markets of the US and China, a fall in prices due to oversupply and shifts in consumer preference towards lab-grown diamonds due to affordability and high resemblance to the natural ones.

It said the revenues of the natural diamond polishing industry will decline for third fiscal in a row. Being a buyers’ market due to tepid demand and decreasing prices, polishers are limiting their purchases of rough diamonds. Also, miners have cut production helping in the arrest of fall in prices of rough diamonds.

According to the report, sluggish demand in the US market caused a fall in India’s diamond exports, while there is a growing preference for golden jewellery in China as the yellow metal is now being considered as a safer asset providing better returns amid economic uncertainty. In addition to this, the youth population in these key export markets is increasingly embracing lab-grown diamonds as limited disposable incomes are constraining discretionary spending. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 26094.20, up by 90.05 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 25998.40 and 26111.40. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.57%, Nestle up by 2.17%, Tata Motors up by 2.15%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.76% and Hindalco up by 1.68%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.93%, Cipla down by 1.56%, Divi's Lab down by 1.39%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.10% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 701.31 points or 3.54% to 19,830.41, Jakarta Composite gained 4.86 points or 0.06% to 7,745.76, Shanghai Composite strengthened 103.73 points or 3.46% to 3,000.04, KOSPI increased 75.25 points or 2.82% to 2,671.57, Nikkei 225 surged 1055.37 points or 2.71% to 38,925.63 and Taiwan Weighted added 97.21 points or 0.43% to 22,858.81, while Straits Times fell 1.39 points or 0.04% to 3,581.88.