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Indian equity benchmarks added gains in early afternoon deals to trade near day’s high points, despite mixed cues from other Asian markets. Traders were optimistic as the Centre said the number of beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme has crossed 10 crore, increasing more than three-fold from 3.16 crore farmers covered under the first instalment period in early 2019. However, there was some anxiety over the street amid private report stating that with a fast drawdown of India's forex reserves, some investors are raising the concern that a drop below $500 billion would force the RBI to hike more aggressively. Besides, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said that India would remain one of the fastest-growing major economies but it is not decoupled from the world and will face some slowdown.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as South Korea's consumer confidence weakened for the second successive month in November. The survey results from the Bank of Korea showed that the consumer confidence index fell to 86.5 in November from 88.8 in the previous month. Among sub-indicators, the index measuring current living standards remained unchanged at 83.0 in November, while that concerning the future outlook dropped by two points to 82.0.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61361.96, up by 217.12 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 61073.68 and 61361.96. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.21%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.57%, Metal up by 0.53%, FMCG up by 0.49%, Capital Goods up by 0.43% and Industrials up by 0.35%, while Realty down by 0.90%, Power down by 0.71%, Utilities down by 0.70%, Oil & Gas down by 0.49% and Energy down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.04%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.17%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.00%, Titan up by 0.98% and NTPC up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.66%, Nestle down by 0.62%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.26%, Sun Pharma down by 0.24% and Wipro down by 0.13% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has projected the year-on-year (YoY) growth of the Gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA) at basic prices (at constant 2011-12 prices) in the second quarter of the current fiscal (Q2FY23) at 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively, a base effect-led halving from the 13.5% and 12.7%, respectively recorded in Q1 FY2023. However, it said the growth in the GDP over the pre-Covid levels is expected to double to around 8% in Q2 FY23 relative to the 3.8% seen in the previous quarter, with a widening of the economic recovery.

ICRA estimates the sectoral growth in Q2 FY23 to be driven by the services sector (+9.4%), with a subdued trend foreseen for the industry (+2.0%), and agriculture, forestry and fishing (+2.5%). Travel-related services have recorded a healthy recovery since the onset of FY2023, benefitting from pent-up demand related to corporate travel and increasing confidence for availing leisure services amid the decline in trajectory of Covid-19 infections. As many as nine of the 16 service sector high frequency indicators reported a double-digit YoY expansion in Q2 FY23.

In particular, the combined revenue expenditure (revex) of the 24 state governments for which data is available, posted a considerable YoY growth of 16.7% in Q2 FY23. In addition, other services, which include education, healthcare, recreation, and other personal services, are likely to have seen a sustained demand in this quarter. However, the government’s non-interest revenue expenditure contracted by 1.4% in Q2 FY23. Overall, ICRA projects the GVA growth of the services sector at a robust 9.4% in Q2 FY23.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18223.80, up by 63.85 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 18137.70 and 18224.75. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.14%, Grasim Industries up by 1.69%, Divi's Laboratories up by 1.61%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 1.19% and UPL up by 1.12%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 0.93%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.89%, ONGC down by 0.66%, Power Grid down by 0.66% and Nestle down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI fell 342.55 points or 1.94% to 17,313.36, Shanghai Composite declined 0.48 points or 0.03% to 1,618.38, Jakarta Composite lost 14.23 points or 0.59% to 2,405.27 and Nikkei 225 slipped 0.36 points or 14395.53% to 51.93, while Straits Times advanced 51.50 points or 0.28% to 18,256.50, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 10.36 points or 0.32% to 3,260.98 and Hang Seng increased 170.95 points or 0.61% to 28,115.74.

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