BENCHMARKS CONTINUES TO TRADE IN SIDEWAYS; IT SHARES ADVANCED

The key equity benchmarks continued trade sideways in afternoon trade The Nifty hovers near the 25,800 mark. IT, media and auto shares advanced while oil & gas, realty and FMCG stocks declined.

At 13:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 30.38 points or 0.03% to 84,330.48. The Nifty 50 index added 1.05 points or 0% to 25,809.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.25% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.47%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,296 shares rose and 1,595 shares fell. A total of 105 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India`s fiscal deficit remained under control during April-August, reaching 27% of the full-year target. This containment was attributed to muted spending in the early months of the fiscal year. The government`s spending has been lower due to general elections. In comparison, the deficit stood at a higher 36% during the same period in FY24.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers� Index (PMI) fell from 57.5 in August to 56.5 in September, highlighting a robust improvement in the health of the sector that was nonetheless the weakest since January.

As a result of rising purchasing prices, as well as greater labour costs and favourable demand conditions, Indian manufacturers lifted their charges in September.

The combination of job creation and slower increases in new business meant that companies were able to stay on top of their workloads.

Gainers & Losers:

Tech Mahindra (up 2.68%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (up 2.19%), Infosys (up 1.66%), Adani Ports and SEZ (up 1.51%) and State bank of India (up 1.28%) were major Nifty gainers.

IndusInd Bank (down 1.93%), Asian Paints (down 1.85%), Titan Company (down 1.72%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.61%) and Hindustan Unilever (down 1.33%) were major Nifty losers.

Bajaj Auto dropped 1.61%. The company reported 19.60% jump in total auto sales to 4,69,531 units in September 2024 as against 3,92,558 units in September 2023.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Steel Strips Wheels shed 0.35%. The company said that it has achieved monthly net turnover of Rs 362.12 crore, which is lower by 9.89% as compared with the figure of Rs 401.88 crore recorded in September 2023.

Karur Vysya Bank fell 0.54%. The company has reported a total business of Rs 1,76,135 crore for the three months ended on 30 September 2024, up by 14.73% from Rs 1,53,516 crore recorded in the same period last year.

Godrej Properties advanced 1.82% after the company announced that its board has approved raising up to Rs 6,000 crore through various methods in one or more tranches

Tata Power Company rose 0.12%. The company said that it has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Rajasthan government for an investment plan of approximately Rs 1.2 lakh crore in power distribution, transmission, and renewable.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries shed 0.75%. The company said that it has entered into a global exclusive commercialization, license, and supply agreement with Philogen for commercializing the latter�s specialty product Fibromun.

Escorts Kubota declined 1.31%. The tractor manufacturer announced that its agri machinery business division sales grew by 2.47% to 12,380 units in September 2024 as against 12,081 units sold in September 2023.

Global Markets:

European stocks traded mixed as investors keeping an eye on preliminary inflation data from the euro zone for September.

Asian stocks traded mixed after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated the recent outsized cuts enacted by the U.S. central bank should not be interpreted as a sign that future moves will be as aggressive. The U.S. dollar strengthened in response. Meanwhile, heightened tensions in the Middle East added to market uncertainty.

With mainland China`s financial markets closed for the remainder of the week, the recent rally in Asian markets is expected to pause. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng is also closed on Tuesday.

Japan reported its unemployment rate for August eased to 2.5%, down from 2.7% in July

U.S. equities closed higher on Monday, recovering from earlier losses triggered by Powell`s remarks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.04% to a record closing high of 42,330.15. The S&P 500 gained 0.42% to also reach a new record close of 5,762.48. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.38%.

Investors had anticipated more aggressive rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in its final two meetings of the year. However, Powell indicated that the central bank would likely stick to quarter-point rate reductions moving forward, citing recent economic data that showed strong growth and consumer spending.

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