Indian markets keep heads above water in early afternoon deals

In a highly volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks managed to keep their heads above water in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading higher, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at Consumer Durables and Realty counters. Traders got relief, as India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection for November 2024 came in at Rs 1.82 lakh crore, in gross terms, exhibiting a growth of 8.5 percent on-year and staying above the Rs 1.7 lakh crore mark for the ninth consecutive month. However, gains were limited as investors sentiment was dented after India's Q2 GDP data came in much lower at 5.4 percent against the estimate of 6.5 percent. Global factors like political uncertainty in France, Donald Trump seeking a commitment from the BRICS nations on using the dollar and a mixed set of economic data from China also weighed on sentiment.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as the manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in November, and at a faster pace, with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.5. That's up from 50.3 in October, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Central to the latest advancement in manufacturing sector conditions was greater new business inflows. Incoming new orders placed with Chinese manufacturers increased amongst the fastest rate in three-and-a-half years. A renewed rise in export orders also supported the rise in overall new orders.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79822.76, up by 19.97 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 79308.95 and 79881.51. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.54%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.68%, Realty up by 1.67%, Basic Materials up by 1.27%, Healthcare up by 0.93% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.91%, while Utilities down by 0.59%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, Bankex down by 0.47%, PSU down by 0.45% and Energy down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.86%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.17%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.62%, JSW Steel up by 1.34% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.12%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.76%, Indusind Bank down by 1.09%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.03%, HDFC Bank down by 0.96% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data showed the Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of the first seven months (April-October) of financial year 2024-25 touched 46.5 per cent of the full-year target. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the gap between government's expenditure and revenue -- was at Rs 7,50,824 crore during April-October period. The deficit stood at 45 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the corresponding period of 2023-24. In the Union Budget, the government projected to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP)in the current 2024-25 financial year. The deficit was 5.6 per cent of the GDP in 2023-24. In absolute terms, the government aims to contain the fiscal deficit at Rs 16,13,312 crore during the current fiscal.

CGA said the revenue-expenditure data of the Union government for the first seven months of 2024-25 showed that the net tax revenue was about Rs 13 lakh crore or 50.5 per cent of budget estimate for the current fiscal. The net tax revenue collection was 55.9 per cent at September-end of 2023. The central government's total expenditure in the seven months through October stood at Rs 24.7 lakh crore or 51.3 per cent of budget estimate. Expenditure was 53.2 per cent of budget estimate in the year-ago period. Of the total expenditure, Rs 20 lakh crore was in the revenue account and Rs 4.66 lakh crore in the capital account.

According to the data, out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 5,96,347 crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 2,48,670 crore towards major subsidies. Out of the total receipts up to October, Rs 7.22 lakh crore has been transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by government of India, which is Rs 1.94 lakh crore higher than the previous year. Fiscal deficit is the difference between the total expenditure and revenue of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowing that is needed by the government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24156.15, up by 25.05 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 24008.65 and 24182.60. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 3.69%, Grasim Industries up by 3.68%, Shriram Finance up by 2.61%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.21% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.90%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.01%, NTPC down by 1.70%, Bharat Electronics down by 1.09%, Indusind Bank down by 0.99% and Adani Enterprises down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 46.84 points or 0.24% to 19,470.45, Shanghai Composite strengthened 27.3 points or 0.82% to 3,353.76, Straits Times rose 12.95 points or 0.35% to 3,752.24, Nikkei 225 surged 304.99 points or 0.79% to 38,513.02 and Taiwan Weighted added 474.43 points or 2.09% to 22,736.93, while Jakarta Composite plunged 22.3 points or 0.31% to 7,091.97 and KOSPI dropped 1.43 points or 0.06% to 2,454.48.