Benchmarks rebound on Friday; Nifty settles above 24,100 mark

Indian equity benchmarks rebounded on Friday, surging nearly one per cent each, amid buying in frontline stocks Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma. After making a cautious start, key gauges gained traction as traders took support with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that President-elect Donald Trump is a ‘friend of India’ and India-US friendship will only continue to blossom and grow further. The minister also said he does not foresee any problems in the Indo-US partnership, and exuded confidence that it would further strengthen with the new administration taking over in Washington. Traders overlooked exchange data showing that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 11,756.25 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Thursday. 

Markets experienced considerable buying demand in late morning deals and concluded the day on a high note as sentiments got up-beat amid a private report stating that revenue collections of states, as percentage of their gross domestic product, are budgeted to beat the pre-Covid level in 2024-25 on the back of projected improvement in their own revenue streams as well as central transfers. Some solace also came with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas’ latest notification stating that government has been taking various steps to ensure fair and reasonable prices for consumers. Domestically, Petrol and Diesel prices have come down from Rs 110.04 and Rs 98.42 per litre in November 2021 to Rs 94.77 and Rs 87.67 per litre respectively (as on November 18, 2024, Delhi prices) as a result of reduction of Central Excise duty by the Central Government by a total of Rs 13/litre and Rs 16/litre on petrol and diesel respectively in two tranches in November 2021 and May 2022, which was fully passed on to consumers.  

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green ahead of the release of flash euro zone inflation data for November, due later in the day. Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday following the lack of cues from Wall Street and despite the positive cues from European markets, as traders reacted to a slew of economic data from Japan and manufacturing data from South Korea. The developments in the Middle East were also hurting market sentiment. Back home, on the sectoral front, there were some buzz in banking industry related stocks as the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed that credit growth in the fortnight ending November 15 slowed to 11.15 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), while deposit growth slightly outpaced credit growth, reaching 11.21 per cent Y-o-Y.   

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 759.05 points or 0.96% to 79,802.79, and the CNX Nifty was up by 216.95 points or 0.91% to 24,131.10.      

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 79,923.90 and 79,026.18 respectively. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.76%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.05%, Telecom up by 1.53%, Utilities up by 1.46%, Energy up by 1.09% and Basic Materials up by 1.04%, while Realty down by 0.58% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.30%, Sun Pharma up by 2.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.38%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.94% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.23%, Nestle down by 0.07% and SBI down by 0.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat has said that India must establish nationally accredited testing facilities for battery energy storage systems to support its ambitious clean energy transition goal. He highlighted the significant gap in testing and certification infrastructure as India aims to deploy over 238 gigawatt hours of battery storage capacity by 2030 to balance its expanding renewable energy network.

Saraswat called for authorising third-party testing and certification till the time the government sets up storage certification agencies. He underlined that India requires a universal standard for all types of energy storage systems. While the Bureau of Indian Standards has developed 17 specifications for energy storage systems, with more under development, he pointed out, the country lacks adequate facilities to verify compliance with these standards.

NITI Aayog member also underscored that coal will have a substantial presence in India's energy mix despite aggressive renewable energy targets, with a projected capacity of 150 gigawatts in 2047, down from the current level of 218 gigawatts. At the same time, solar capacity is expected to expand substantially by 2047, requiring extensive storage integration. He outlined various storage technologies under consideration, including pumped hydro which has identified the potential of 100 gigawatt capacities across 60 sites. Flow batteries, sodium-sulphur systems, and emerging technologies like aluminium-air batteries are being evaluated alongside conventional lithium-ion solutions.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 24,188.45 and 23,927.15. There were 43 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.40%, Sun Pharma up by 2.87%, Cipla up by 2.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.58% and Tata Consumer Products up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.35%, Shriram Finance down by 0.93%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.39%, HDFC Life Insurance Company down by 0.26% and Nestle down by 0.06% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 3.48 points or 0.05% to 7,182.73 and Germany’s DAX gained 11.32 points or 0.06% to 19,437.05, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 7.25 points or 0.09% to 8,273.97.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Friday as investors are awaiting key US data next week, including job openings, the ADP employment report and the employment report for further insights into the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction. Japanese markets declined and the yen strengthened as data showed that core inflation in the capital region came in above the 2 percent target boosted expectations for an interest rate hike in the near-term. Seoul shares fell as the local central bank's interest rate cut raised economic slowdown worries, while an increasingly tense geopolitical environment on the Korean Peninsula also kept investors cautious. However, Chinese shares logged strong gains with speculation that China will provide more support for the economy at a key policy meeting next month. China is set to prolong tariff exemptions for specific US imports until February 28, 2025, signifying a potential easing in trade barriers amid US trade tensions.