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Indian equity markets added gains to continue firm trade in the afternoon session on account of buying in front line counters. The BSE Sensex gained around 400 points to reclaim the 58700 mark, while the 50-share index was up by over 100 points. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Power and Metal stocks, while selling was witnessed in Telecom, IT and TECK sector stocks. Sentiments were upbeat with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose by $2.315 billion to $573.875 billion for the week ended July 29 on the back of robust capital inflows in the equities markets and strengthening of rupee from the record low. Some support also came as data with depositories showed after turning net buyers last month, foreign investors continued their positive stance on Indian equities and invested over Rs 14,000 crore in the first week of August amid softening of the dollar index. This was way higher than the net investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in entire July. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after strong US jobs data cleared the way for more interest rate hikes and Chinese exports rose by double digits.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58784.69, up by 396.76 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 58266.65 and 58807.31. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.53%, Power up by 1.51%, Metal up by 1.32%, Utilities up by 1.23% and Industrials was up by 0.88%, while Telecom down by 0.24%, IT down by 0.20% and  TECK was down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.31%, HDFC Bank up by 2.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.10%, Axis Bank up by 1.97% and Reliance Industries was up by 1.78%. On the flip side, SBI down by 2.42%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.92%, Asian Paints down by 0.70%, Wipro down by 0.61% and Nestle was down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) President, Sanjiv Mehta, has said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained consistency in the recent monetary policy statement by focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to contain inflation.

Mehta said the Central Bank has delivered the third consecutive increase in the policy rate - increasing the benchmark repo rate by a total of 140 bps since May this year. He noted that inflation has been over the comfort range of the Central Bank, however the recent moderation in global commodity prices should hopefully offer some respite going ahead. He also said the uncertainty on external front remains on fore. Nonetheless, the Central Bank has retained the growth forecast for 2022-23 at 7.2 percent - which is encouraging.

He further said that the capacity utilization rate for Q4 2021-22 at 75.3 is over the long-term average and should lead to improvement in investment activities going forward. The medium-term growth drivers for India are very much intact and recovery is expected to find a firmer ground by the latter part of this fiscal year. He further hopes as inflation ebbs, RBI will dynamically manage its monetary policy stance and continue to support growth impulses in the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17505.80, up by 108.30 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 17359.75 and 17509.55. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.97%, Hindalco up by 2.53%, NTPC up by 2.44%, HDFC Bank up by 2.24% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 2.11%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.63%, SBI down by 2.50%, Britannia Inds down by 1.30%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.19% and Ultratech Cement was down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times trembled 19.04 points or 0.58% to 3,263.84, Jakarta Composite lost 21.27 points or 0.3% to 7,063.39, Hang Seng decreased 212.14 points or 1.05% to 19,989.80 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 15.63 points or 0.1% to 15,020.41

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 2.25 points or 0.07% to 3,229.28, Nikkei 225 surged 73.37 points or 0.26% to 28,249.24 and KOSPI was up by 0.71 points or 0.03% to 2,491.51.

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