IGI Logo

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding gains of over 0.30% each, aided by positive firm cues from other Asian markets along with heavy buying at IT, TECK and Realty counters. Sentiments remained positive, as India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) deflated for the third straight month in June, on the back of fall in prices of mineral oils, non-food Articles, crude petroleum & natural gas and electricity. WPI inflation stood at (-) 4.12% for the month of June 2023 against (-) 3.48% recorded in May 2023. Besides, Reserve Bank of India data report showed that reflecting surge in quarter-end business, Commercial Bank credit expanded by 16.22 per cent Year on Year (YoY) basis to Rs 143.91 trillion at the end of fortnight ended June 30, 2023. The credit had expanded by 14.4 per cent YoY a year ago.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after Japan's industrial production contracted more than initially estimated in May. The latest data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry showed that industrial production dropped by a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a 0.7 percent rise in April. Further, this was the first decline in four months. In the flash report, the rate of decline was 1.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65768.42, up by 209.53 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 65610.82 and 65917.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.86%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.47%, TECK up by 2.07%, Realty up by 1.11%, Telecom up by 0.86% and Oil & Gas up by 0.58%, while Power down by 0.69%, Utilities down by 0.67%, Consumer Durables down by 0.50% and PSU down by 0.23% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.62%, HCL Technologies up by 2.51%, Infosys up by 2.51%, TCS up by 2.49% and Wipro up by 1.39%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.52%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 1.27%, JSW Steel down by 1.03%, Titan Company down by 1.01% and Axis Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that there is work ongoing with a number of economies, including the UK, on the issue of intellectual property (IP) rights and modernisation in an effort to improve Indian protocols. He said the process to harmonise with international standards is high on the government’s agenda because integrating with world thinking on standards and IP is important for the fast-paced growth of the Indian economy.

Goyal said ‘our effort is to improve the Indian protocols around intellectual property rights and areas associated with it, but I feel it will have to be a little more gradual process. Similarly, we are working very actively on quality standards in India. The BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) for non-food products and FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) on food products are trying to develop standards. Wherever it's possible, we are trying to harmonise also with international standards. But it's not possible in everything...we are roughly at about 90 per cent of our standards harmonised with what is generally accepted standards’.

Talking about the corporate tax levels in India, the minister was clear that India’s rates were at a comparable level having been reduced significantly in the last nine years. He said ‘we have been successful through G20 in getting the world to bring in a minimum corporate tax of 15 per cent.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19479.50, up by 65.75 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 19433.50 and 19520.40. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.57%, TCS up by 2.56%, HCL Technologies up by 2.55%, Infosys up by 2.54% and LTIMindtree up by 2.43%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.19%, NTPC down by 1.52%, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 1.25%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.97% and Titan Company down by 0.96% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 222.31 points or 1.29% to 17,283.71, Hang Seng advanced 41.99 points or 0.22% to 19,392.61, Jakarta Composite gained 39.22 points or 0.57% to 6,849.43, KOSPI increased 37.07 points or 1.41% to 2,628.30, Straits Times rose 7.78 points or 0.24% to 3,246.24 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 0.38 points or 0.01% to 3,236.86, while Nikkei 225 slipped 28.07 points or 0.09% to 32,391.26.