Bourses continue to trade in green in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade in green in late afternoon session. Traders took support as Federal Reserve officials at their September meeting agreed to cut interest rates but were unsure how aggressive to get, ultimately deciding on a half percentage point move in an effort to balance confidence on inflation with worries over the labor market. However, traders braced for upcoming Q2FY25 earnings. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest ‘Industrial Outlook Survey of the Manufacturing Sector for Q2:2024-25’ has said that manufacturing companies reported some moderation in demand expansion during Q2:2024-25 as reflected in their assessment on production, order books, capacity utilisation, employment and overall business situation.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green with Chinese and Hong Kong markets leading the surge on hopes that policymakers will announce more stimulus to revive growth at a press briefing by China's finance ministry on Saturday. European markets were trading lower due to lingering Middle East tensions and ahead of U.S. CPI data due later in the day. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81696.81, up by 229.71 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 81542.65 and 82002.84. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.31%, Industrials up by 0.56%, PSU up by 0.51%, Utilities up by 0.38% and Power was up by 0.34%, while Healthcare down by 1.49%, IT down by 0.67%, TECK down by 0.62%, Realty down by 0.54% and FMCG was down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.13%, HDFC Bank up by 1.71%, Axis Bank up by 1.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.36% and Indusind Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.13%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65%, Titan Company down by 1.43%, Tata Motors down by 1.13% and Infosys down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest ‘Industrial Outlook Survey of the Manufacturing Sector for Q2:2024-25’ has said that manufacturing companies reported some moderation in demand expansion during Q2:2024-25 as reflected in their assessment on production, order books, capacity utilisation, employment and overall business situation.

As per the report, pressures from cost of raw material, financing cost and salary outgo were assessed to have tempered and, in accordance, sentiments on growth in selling prices and profit margins also moderated. It said that the business assessment index (BAI) remained in expansion zone but moderated to 108.3 in Q2:2024-25 from 110.8 in the previous quarter.

However, manufacturers maintained their optimism on demand conditions for Q3:2024-25. Besides for Q3:2024-25, cost of financing and salary outgo are likely to rise, while pressures from raw material cost are expected to ease, and selling price growth momentum may continue. The business expectations index (BEI) improved to 120.3 in Q3:2024-25 from 119.1 in the previous quarter.

Going forward, manufacturers polled for better expectations on production, order books, employment, capacity utilisation and overall business situation during Q4:2024-25 and Q1:2025-26. For Q4:2024-25 and Q1:2025-26, input cost pressures are likely to continue for manufacturers, who expect to retain pricing power and increase in selling prices on the back of robust demand conditions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25028.45, up by 46.50 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 24990.50 and 25134.05. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 4.11%, HDFC Bank up by 1.83%, Bharat Electronics up by 1.72%, Axis Bank up by 1.53% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.48%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.38%, Sun Pharma down by 2.12%, Trent down by 1.82% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 614.74 points or 2.89% to 21,251.98, Nikkei 225 surged 102.93 points or 0.26% to 39,380.89, Shanghai Composite strengthened 43.07 points or 1.3% to 3,301.93 and KOSPI was up by 4.80 points or 0.18% to 2,599.16. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 12.76 points or 0.35% to 3,582.90 and Jakarta Composite was down by 18.18 points or 0.24% to 7,483.11.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 7.15 points or 0.09% to 8,236.59, France’s CAC fell 19.04 points or 0.25% to 7,541.05 and Germany’s DAX was down by 48.96 points or 0.25% to 19,205.97.