HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Sensex, Nifty trade higher in narrow range in early deals
May-02-2024

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Thursday amid mixed global cues. Sensex and Nifty are trading higher in a narrow range in early deals amid buying in power and PSU stocks. Sentiments got boost as India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in gross terms hit a record high in April 2024 at Rs 2.1 lakh crore. The government had collected Rs 1.87 lakh crore as GST in the same period last year. Adding more optimism, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said GST collection breached the Rs 2 lakh crore milestone on the back of strong economic momentum and efficient tax realisation. However, upside remained capped as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned net sellers in Indian stocks in April, after remaining net buyers in the two preceding months, as the ongoing geopolitical crisis in the Middle East coupled with strength US bond yield likely pushed investors to take money off their portfolios. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Thursday, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with the markets reacting to the US Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady, while also ruling out a rate hike in the near future. The Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged, citing a lack of further progress toward its 2 percent inflation objective in recent months. Meanwhile, China market is closed for labor day holiday. Back home, power stocks are in focus with the government data showing that India's power consumption rose around 11 per cent to 144.25 billion units (BU) in April as compared to the year-ago period, mainly due increase in temperatures. In stock specific development, Kotak Mahindra Bank tumbled on the bourses. K V S Manian, joint managing director at the bank, resigned from his position to pursue other opportunities.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74646.80, up by 164.02 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 74360.69 and 74723.90. 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 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.16%, PSU up by 1.04%, Utilities up by 1.00%, FMCG up by 0.41% and Telecom up by 0.35%, while Realty down by 1.15%, TECK down by 0.17%, Bankex down by 0.11%, Consumer Durables down by 0.08% and IT down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.02%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.74%, Asian Paints up by 1.60%, Sun Pharma up by 1.38% and NTPC up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.87%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.61%, Wipro down by 0.78%, Titan Company down by 0.67% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, With the help of strong economic momentum and efficient tax realization, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection breached the Rs 2 lakh crore milestone. GST collection grew 12.4 per cent to a record high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April, driven by increased domestic transactions and imports. The collection was Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

She also lauded the efforts of the central and state officers of the revenue department and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) for their ‘sincere and collaborative efforts’ in achieving this landmark.

Sitharaman also said ‘there are no dues pending on account of IGST (Integrated GST) settlement to the states.’ GST, which subsumed over a dozen local taxes, was rolled out on July 1, 2017. Currently, there are 1.45 crore registered taxpayers on the GST system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22657.40, up by 52.55 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 22567.85 and 22668.40. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.26%, BPCL up by 2.24%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.73%, Shriram Finance up by 1.66% and Asian Paints up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.01%, Hindalco down by 2.16%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.70%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.18% and Tata Consumer Products down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 122.56 points or 0.6% to 20,274.04, Jakarta Composite slipped 103.59 points or 1.43% to 7,130.61, Nikkei 225 fell 23.47 points or 0.06% to 38,250.58 and KOSPI dropped 3.93 points or 0.15% to 2,688.13. On the other hand, Hang Seng jumped 392.25 points or 2.21% to 18,155.28 and Straits Times was up by 8.82 points or 0.27% to 3,301.51.
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
May 06 , 2024
FPIs exercise caution amid US yield surge, awa
May 07 , 2024
Six-week long election leaves RBI with liquidi
May 08 , 2024
Sebi rejects NSE proposal to extend trading ho
May 08 , 2024
Heavyweights pull down Nifty for third day; Se
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.