Indian markets take upturn in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks took an upturn in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty gaining over half a percent, aided by heavy buying at TECK and IT counters, despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that India will continue to grow at near 7 percent growth rates over the next two years, as strong investment and recovery in farm output help sustain the momentum. Besides, some relief came after a private report projected that the RBI to deliver deeper rate cuts of 100 bps, starting in December 2024, more than the consensus view of a 50 bps cuts.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after South Korea's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2024, unchanged from Q2 but missing expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent. Real gross national income (real GNI) increased by 1.4 percent on quarter in Q3. On the production side, manufacturing increased by 0.2 percent mainly due to increases in transportation equipment and machinery and equipment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81462.30, up by 505.97 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 80467.37 and 81621.58. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged by 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 1.17%, IT up by 1.12%, Telecom up by 0.74%, Bankex up by 0.61% and Energy up by 0.36%, while Realty down by 0.44%, Utilities down by 0.26%, Power down by 0.23%, Healthcare down by 0.07% and Industrials down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan up by 1.91%, Infosys up by 1.43%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, TCS up by 1.26% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.99%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.33%, Asian Paints down by 0.63%, Nestle down by 0.44%, JSW Steel down by 0.26% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam has said that US President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to impose high tariffs on three of its trading partners, including China will provide huge export opportunities for India and the domestic industry should prepare itself to tap into that. Recently, Trump vowed to introduce 25 per cent tariffs (or customs duty) on imports from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10 per cent on China. 

Subrahmanyam said there is going to be huge disruptions because of that in the US trade and that would open up ‘huge’ opportunities for India. The US is the largest trading partner of India. India's exports stood at $77.51 billion, while imports aggregated at $42.2 billion in the last fiscal. The US also accounts for 70 per cent of India's IT export revenue. He said ‘Our relationship with the US is multi-dimensional. It is very deep. It's not standing only on one leg which is trade, there are many other dimensions. The two nations have a much deeper relationship and all these things will be taken into account’. 

These remarks assume significance as Trump during his election campaign, called India an ‘abuser’ of import tariffs, a claim that echoed his October 2020 statement labelling India the ‘Tariff King’. He has also warned BRICS countries against any move to replace the US dollar and has sought a commitment from the nine-member group that includes India, Russia, China, and Brazil, among others.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24608.10, up by 140.65 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24295.55 and 24648.60. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan up by 2.22%, Infosys up by 1.55%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.53%, TCS up by 1.34% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.12%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.67%, NTPC down by 1.27%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.77% and Cipla down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 227.73 points or 1.17% to 19,514.73, Jakarta Composite plunged 21.76 points or 0.3% to 7,305.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.93 points or 0.03% to 3,363.72 and KOSPI dropped 22.15 points or 0.91% to 2,441.85, while Straits Times rose 19.34 points or 0.51% to 3,819.28, Nikkei 225 surged 119.21 points or 0.3% to 39,395.60 and Taiwan Weighted added 12.61 points or 0.05% to 23,267.94.