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Indian markets remain firm during early noon deals
May-02-2024

Indian equity markets remained firm during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty holding notable gains, aided by heavy buying at Power and Utilities counters, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained optimistic, amid reports that developing e-commerce hubs in the country to further promote India's exports through online medium are expected to figure in the commerce ministry's 100-day agenda roadmap for the new government. The street overlooked reports that the Reserve Bank of India will likely delay cutting interest rates until the final quarter of the year, as inflation risks rise and the US Federal Reserve keeps rates on hold for longer.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Japan's consumer sentiment decreased unexpectedly in April to the lowest level in three months. The data from the Cabinet Office showed that the seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index dropped to 38.3 in April from 39.5 in March. The latest survey was conducted on April 15 among 8,400 households.

Back home, auto stocks were in watch, amid sales data for the month of April. Maruti Suzuki India has reported a 4.7 per cent increase in total sales at 1,68,089 units in April 2024, while TVS Motor Company has registered a growth of 25% with sales increasing from 306,224 units in April 2023 to 383,615 units in April 2024. Further, Ashok Leyland has reported 10% rise in its total sales, including exports, at 14271 units in April 2024 as compared to 12974 units in April 2023. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74736.51, up by 253.73 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 74360.69 and 74812.43. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index jumped 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.62%, Utilities up by 1.62%, PSU up by 1.61%, Oil & Gas up by 1.41% and Auto up by 1.23%, while Realty down by 0.99%, Bankex down by 0.39%, Telecom down by 0.14% and TECK down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 4.01%, Asian Paints up by 2.30%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.83%, Sun Pharma up by 1.77% and NTPC up by 1.71%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.78%, ICICI Bank down by 1.37%, Axis Bank down by 0.86% and Indusind Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the share of generation from the renewable energy (RE) capacity, including large hydro, is likely to increase to close to 40% of the all-India electricity generation by FY2030 from less than 25% currently, driven by the large capacity addition under way. It noted that achieving such a high level of RE share would require development of energy storage systems (ESS) to manage the intermittency associated with wind and solar power. The ESS is currently mainly driven by the battery energy storage systems (BESS) and pumped hydro storage projects (PSP). 

According to the report, the recent appreciable decline in battery costs is encouraging, and it expects to hasten the adoption of BESS projects. The ESS also plays a role in improving grid stability, providing ancillary support services and peak load shifting. Post the notification of the bidding guidelines by the Ministry of Power for BESS projects, there have been multiple bids called by Central nodal agencies and state distribution utilities. The tariff under these bids is fixed and payable based on the availability and round trip efficiency.

The report further said the decline in battery costs over the past decade leading up to 2021 helped reduce the cost of energy storage and adoption of BESS projects globally. It said while the prices went up in 2022, they declined in 2023 to an all-time low, led by the moderation in raw material prices, amid the increase in production across the value chain. It added that cheaper battery prices are the key to increased adoption of BESS projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22684.50, up by 79.65 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 22567.85 and 22706.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 4.08%, Power Grid up by 3.99%, Asian Paints up by 2.42%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.03% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.48%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.76%, ICICI Bank down by 1.13%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.08% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 174.16 points or 0.86% to 20,222.44, Jakarta Composite plunged 132.72 points or 1.83% to 7,101.48, Straits Times fell 4.08 points or 0.12% to 3,288.61, KOSPI dropped 8.41 points or 0.31% to 2,683.65 and Nikkei 225 slipped 37.98 points or 0.1% to 38,236.07, while Hang Seng advanced 417.84 points or 2.35% to 18,180.87.
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