Market Commentary - Mid-Session
Sensex gains 539 pts; European mkt opens higher As on : 14-Oct-24  13:31

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 25,100 level. Realty, IT and bank shares advanced while media, oil & gas and metal shares declined.

At 13:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 539.32 points or 0.66% to 81,916.20. The Nifty 50 index added 138.50 points or 0.55% to 25,102.75.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.16% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.16%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,965 shares rose and 1,993 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rose to 1.84% in September as food items, especially vegetables, turned costlier, as per the government data released on Monday. The inflation was 1.31% in August. It was (-)0.07% in September last year.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves dropped by $3.709 billion to $701.176 billion for the week ended October 4, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the reserves had jumped by $12.588 billion to an all-time high of $704.885 billion.

The foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $3.511 billion to $612.643 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

Gold reserves decreased by $40 million to $65.756 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $123 million to $18.425 billion. India's reserve position with the IMF was down by $35 million to $4.352 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Gainers & Losers:

Wipro (up 4%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.78%), Larsen & Toubro (up 2.51%), HDFC Bank (up 1.92%) and HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 1.87%) were major Nifty gainers.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (down 2.14%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.46%), Tata Steel (down 1.42%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.26%) and Bajaj Finance (down 1.05%) were major Nifty losers.

Wipro jumped 4% after the company said that its board will meet on 16-17 October 2024 to consider bonus issue to equity shareholders.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Avenue Supermarts (Dmart) tumbled 8.52%. The company reported a 5.77% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 659.58 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 623.56 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 14.41% to Rs 14,444.50 crore in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 12,624.37 crore recorded in Q2 FY24.

Hathway Cable & Datacom rallied 3.34% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 28.61% to Rs 25.80 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 20.06 crore in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue increased 5.98% YoY to Rs 512.74 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 483.79 crore in Q2 FY24.

Gensol Engineering added 1.75% after the company received a contract from UAE's leading sustainable and clean energy development company for constructing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for aviation company in Dubai. The said contract is valued at AED 81.6 million (approximately Rs 186 crore) plus taxes and is set to be executed over a 20-month period

PNC Infratech advanced 3.43% after the company received an order worth Rs 2,039.61 crore from the City & Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) for infra-development in Navi Mumbai's NAINA region.

Ashoka Buildcon gained 3.71% after the company said that it has received letter of acceptance (LoA) for projects totalling to Rs 3,983.24 crore from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDCL).

Premier Energies rallied 4.50% after the company's subsidiaries, Premier Energies International, Premier Energies Photovoltaic has received multiple orders from various customers amounting to a total value of Rs 765 crore.

Global Markets:

Europeans shares advanced and Asian stocks traded higher on Monday, as investors assessed China's weekend press briefing and awaited a slew of economic data this week from the region.

China's finance ministry detailed plans for increased government debt issuances and support for provincial governments. However, the lack of specific details, particularly regarding the scale and timing of the measures, caused some disappointment. Analysts expressed concerns about the potential for a significant increase in government debt.

Economic data from China highlighted ongoing weakness. China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% from a year earlier last month, against a 0.6% rise in August. CPI was unchanged month-on-month, versus a 0.4% gain in August and below an estimated 0.4% increase. Meanwhile, the producer price index (PPI) fell 2.8% year-on-year in September, versus a 1.8% decline the previous month.

Asian markets drew support from the positive performance of US stocks on Friday. The S&P500 rose 0.61% to a record high of 5,815.03 points, while the Dow Jones surged nearly 1% to a record high of 42,863.86 points. The Nasdaq lagged, rising 0.3% to 18,342.94 points. Positive earnings from major banks helped investors look past questions over whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in November.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand in the US rose 1.8% on a yearly basis in September. This reading followed the 1.9% increase recorded in August. The US consumer price index for all urban consumers rise by 0.2% month on month (MoM) on a seasonally-adjusted basis in September, the same rise as in August and July.

This week, investors will focus on additional third-quarter earnings reports and statements from Federal Reserve officials.

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