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Mirroring their Asian peers, Indian equity markets were trading in fine fettle with Sensex and Nifty crossing 58500 and 17450 levels in the noon session due to heavy buying in Telecom, Basic Materials and TECK stocks. Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Ultratech Cement, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel also helped to lift the markets. Traders remain energized as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to hike the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.4 per cent, crossing the pre-pandemic level of 5.15 per cent. MPC decided to focus on withdrawal of accommodation to keep inflation within target while supporting growth. Further, RBI Governor Das said that India's foreign exchange reserve still strong, and are the 4th highest globally. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were stood as net buyers and bought shares worth Rs 1,474.77 crore on August 4, as per provisional data available on the NSE. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher as investors were looking ahead to monthly U.S. employment numbers for possible signs of weakness that might prompt the Fed to decide it needs to ease off on rate hikes to cool inflation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58572.06, up by 273.26 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 58330.15 and 58649.19. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.73%, Basic Materials up by 1.12%, TECK up by 1.10%, Bankex up by 0.96% and IT was up by 0.94%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.47%, Consumer Durables down by 0.42%, Auto down by 0.31%, Energy down by 0.21% and Utilities was down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.42%, ICICI Bank up by 2.03%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.94%, SBI up by 1.45% and Infosys was up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.18%, Reliance Industries down by 1.02%, Sun Pharma down by 0.30%, Indusind Bank down by 0.24% and HDFC was down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.40 per cent with immediate effect. Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stood adjusted to 5.15 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65 per cent.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Shanghai Composite gained 33.08 points or 1.04% to 3,222.12, Straits Times advanced 12.15 points or 0.37% to 3,282.01, Nikkei 225 surged 243.67 points or 0.87% to 28,175.87, Jakarta Composite soared 13.22 points or 0.19% to 7,070.57, KOSPI rose 17.69 points or 0.72% to 2,490.80, Hang Seng increased 77.13 points or 0.38% to 20,251.17 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 333.84 points or 2.27% to 15,036.04. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the mediumterm target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.

On the inflation front, the inflation projection is retained at 6.7 per cent in 2022-23, with Q2 at 7.1 per cent; Q3 at 6.4 per cent; and Q4 at 5.8 per cent, and risks evenly balanced. The real GDP growth projection for 2022-23 is retained at 7.2 per cent, with Q1 at 16.2 per cent; Q2 at 6.2 per cent; Q3 at 4.1 per cent; and Q4 at 4.0 per cent, and risks broadly balanced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17451.10, up by 69.10 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 17389.30 and 17474.40. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.49%, ICICI Bank up by 2.03%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.92%, Grasim Industries up by 1.69% and SBI was up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.24%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.16%, Reliance Industries down by 0.98%, Eicher Motors down by 0.87% and Apollo Hospital was down by 0.82% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Shanghai Composite gained 33.08 points or 1.04% to 3,222.12, Straits Times advanced 12.15 points or 0.37% to 3,282.01, Nikkei 225 surged 243.67 points or 0.87% to 28,175.87, Jakarta Composite soared 13.22 points or 0.19% to 7,070.57, KOSPI rose 17.69 points or 0.72% to 2,490.80, Hang Seng increased 77.13 points or 0.38% to 20,251.17 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 333.84 points or 2.27% to 15,036.04. 

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