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Benchmarks remain in green in morning deals
May-02-2024

Indian equity benchmarks remained in green in morning deals, led by gains in PSU, Power and Utilities stocks. Sentiments remained positive with a private survey showing that growth in India's manufacturing sector slowed marginally in April but remained robust thanks to strong demand, prompting firms to ramp up purchases of raw materials at a near-record pace. The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, dipped to 58.8 in April from a 16-year high of 59.1 in March, below a preliminary estimate for no change from the previous month. Despite softening, it was above its long-run average and in expansionary territory for a 34th month. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction. Traders also took a note of data showing that the output of eight core industries posted a growth of 5.2 percent in March 2024 as the production of cement, coal, electricity, natural gas, steel and crude oil recorded positive growth in the same month. The output of core sectors had grown by 7.1 per cent in February 2024 and 4.1 per cent in January 2024, while it stood 4.2 per cent in March 2023. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors react to mixed catalysts. The U.S. Federal Reserve signaled potential rate cuts but warned of high inflation and uncertain path forward. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74679.69, up by 196.91 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 74360.69 and 74746.13. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.70%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.47%, Power up by 1.44%, Utilities up by 1.36%, Oil & Gas up by 1.03% and Auto up by 0.79%, while Realty down by 1.30%, TECK down by 0.20%, Consumer Durables down by 0.19%, Bankex down by 0.14% and Telecom down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 4.41%, Tata Steel up by 1.45%, Asian Paints up by 1.34%, Sun Pharma up by 1.31% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.86%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.39%, Wipro down by 1.08%, Titan Company down by 0.64% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, CareEdge Ratings has said that the pace of National Highways construction in India is estimated to slow down by 7-10 per cent to around 31 km/day in the current fiscal (FY25) due to heightened execution challenges. The pace of National Highways construction in India during FY24 registered a healthy uptick of 20 per cent to 34 km/day.

It expects National Highways Construction to slow down from 12,350 km in FY24 to 11,100-11,500 km in FY25. However, according to the rating agency, despite the uptick, the pace of construction fared lower than 37 km per day reported in FY21 due to execution woes and an increasingly competitive landscape. It said BOT (build, operate and transfer)-HAM remained the preferred mode of award, constituting around 55 per cent of the total projects awarded during FY21-24. Under the HAM model, the government provides 40 per cent of the project cost to the developer to start work, while the remaining investment are made by the contractor.

Moreover, it said of the overall sample of HAM projects awarded after March 2020 amounting to Rs.1.50 lakh crore, approximately one-third of the projects with an aggregate bid project cost (BPC) value of Rs 50,000 crore are facing delays, ranging from 4-6 months beyond the grace period of three months. It added these projects have applied or received an extension of time (EOT) of a similar or longer period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22679.55, up by 74.70 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 22567.85 and 22680.35. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation up by 4.44%, BPCL up by 3.47%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.06%, Asian Paints up by 1.50% and Tata Steel up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.80%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.27%, Divi's Lab down by 1.26%, Tata Consumer Product down by 1.21% and Wipro down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 1.52 points or 0% to 38,272.53, Taiwan Weighted lost 128.09 points or 0.63% to 20,268.51, KOSPI dropped 4.93 points or 0.18% to 2,687.13 and Jakarta Composite plunged 116.76 points or 1.61% to 7,117.44. On the flip side, Hang Seng advanced 392.25 points or 2.16% to 18,155.28 and Straits Times rose 8.75 points or 0.27% to 3,301.44.
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