IGI Logo

Positive trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading higher, aided by positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained positive, amid reports that India is not only a bright spot amid looming uncertainty in the global economy with the forecast of a 6.1 per cent growth as compared to China's 4.4 per cent, European economies near 0.5 per cent and the US around 1 per cent next year. It is also fast emerging as one of the most important leaders of technological change, especially in the arena of digital technology and other frontier technologies.

Traders took note of report that India has been ranked 8th on Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI, 2023) published by German Watch, New Climate Institute and Climate Action Network International based in Germany. The latest report of CCPI, released at COP 27 in November 2022, shows Denmark, Sweden, Chile and Morocco as the only four small countries that were ranked above India as 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after Singapore's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in October to the lowest level in four months. The data published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed that consumer prices climbed 6.7 percent year-on-year in October, after a 7.5 percent stable rate of increase in September, which was the strongest inflation since June 2008.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61509.94, up by 90.98 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 61442.69 and 61780.90. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.56%, Bankex up by 0.51%, PSU up by 0.50%, Healthcare up by 0.40% and Auto up by 0.30%, while Capital Goods down by 0.27% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.42%, SBI up by 1.00%, Dr Reddy's Laboratories up by 0.94%, Axis Bank up by 0.76% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.40%, Indusind Bank down by 0.55%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.38%, Reliance Industries down by 0.31% and TCS down by 0.28% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK is a high priority for both the countries and the next round of negotiations for the pact is slated to happen next month. He said that things are progressing well and it will yield good results.

Goyal said that industry support is required for the agreement and it should be a fair, equitable and balanced FTA. He also said that there should not be any strict timelines to conclude negotiations for an FTA as such agreements have to be thought through and carefully calibrated and negotiated. He said India and Britain launched negotiations for the FTA in January with an aim to conclude talks by Diwali (October 24), but the deadline was missed due to political developments in the UK.

The minister stated that there are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights. Reduction or elimination of customs duty under the pact would help Indian labour intensive sectors like textiles, leather, and gems and jewellery to boost exports in the UK market. The UK is seeking duty concessions in areas like Scotch whiskey and automobiles. So far, five rounds of talks are already completed between the officials of the two countries till July.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18268.45, up by 24.25 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 18251.75 and 18325.40. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 2.46%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.50%, JSW Steel up by 1.24%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.21% and SBI up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.18%, Power Grid down by 1.45%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.67%, Indusind Bank down by 0.42% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 179.90 points or 1.03% to 17,604.31, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 66.34 points or 0.46% to 14,608.54, Jakarta Composite soared 38.89 points or 0.55% to 7,069.48, KOSPI rose 12.74 points or 0.53% to 2,418.01 and Shanghai Composite gained 6.97 points or 0.23% to 3,095.91, while Straits Times trembled 4.38 points or 0.13% to 3,255.18.

Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer