Barometers trade with minor gains; metal shares shine for 5th day

The domestic equity benchmarks traded with decent gains in morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,000 level. Metal shares witnessed buying demand for the fifth consecutive trading session.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 140.05 points or 0.18% to 81,886.35. The Nifty 50 index rose 70 points or 0.28% to 25,021.15.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 82,129.49 and 25,078.30, respectively in early trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.19% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.29%. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index hit an all-time high at 48,840.75.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,111 shares rose and 1,511 shares fell. A total of 170 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's manufacturing sector continued to post impressive growth in July, despite slightly softer increases in new orders and output. Key positive developments seen in the latest results included one of the fastest expansions in international sales for over 13 years and another robust round of job creation.

That said, buoyant demand also exerted pressure on prices. Input costs rose at one of the quickest rates in nearly two years, which contributed to the steepest increase in selling prices since October 2013. At 58.1 in July, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was little changed from 58.3 in June and indicated a substantial improvement in the health of the sector. The latest reading was above the series long-run average and one of the highest seen in recent years.

Result today:

Tata Motors (up 0.87%), ITC (down 0.60%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.94%), Aditya Birla Capital (down 0.13%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.09%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 1.36%), Dabur India (up 2.22%), Arvind Fashions (up 1.80%), Escorts Kubota (up 0.93%), Emami (up 2.74%), Zomato (up 1.37%), Kalyan Jewellers (down 2.03%), Akzo Nobel India (up 1.23%), Alkyl Amines Chemicals (up 0.85%), Aptus Value Housing Finance (up 0.76%), Cleans Science and Technology (up 3.71%), Great Eastern Shipping (down 0.04%), GHCL (up 0.78%), Godrej Agrovet (down 3.09%), G R Infraprojects (down 0.1.19%), Indegene (up 1.29%), Max Healthcare Institute (up 1%), Neuland Laboratories (up 0.71%) and Orient Electric (down 2.73%) will announced their quarterly earnings later today.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index gained 1.25% to 9,703.30. The index rallied 6.07% in five consecutive trading sessions.

NMDC (up 2.76%), National Aluminium Company (up 2.46%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.93%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.74%), JSW Steel (up 1.54%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 1.49%), Tata Steel (up 1.43%), Vedanta (up 1.35%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.34%) and Steel Authority of India (up 1.12%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sonata Software dropped 6.09% after the company reported 4.3% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 105 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 110 crore in Q4 FY24. Revenue jumped 15% QoQ to Rs 688 crore in Q1 FY25.

JK Lakshmi Cement declined 1.35% after the company’s consolidated net profit fell 15.3% to Rs 68 crore in during the quarter as compared with Rs 80 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue declined 9.6% YoY to Rs 1564 crore in Q1 FY25.

Relaxo Footwears slipped 1.72% after the company’s consolidated net profit declined 21.2% to Rs 44.4 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 56 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue increased 1.3% YoY to Rs 748 crore in Q1 FY25.