Equity

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 160.38 points or 0.25% to 63,260.03. The Nifty 50 index gained 63.70 points or 0.34% to 18,822.05.

The two benchmarks hit all-time highs in early trade today at 18,887.60 for Nifty 50 index and 63,583.07 for Sensex. Further, the Nifty Bank index also registered its fresh record high today at 43,515.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.79%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,154 shares rose and 1,267 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

Investors cheered after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the US Central Bank could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes going forward, starting as soon as next month.

Economy:

India's manufacturing sector activity rose at the fastest pace in three months, as output and new orders grew at sharper rates amid easing price pressures, survey data published by S&P Global showed on Thursday. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.7 in November from 55.3 in September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Both new orders and output rose at the strongest pace in three months. There was a sharp upturn in output, which was above trend and the strongest since August.

Indian economy recorded 6.3% annual growth rate in July-September after double-digit surge in the previous quarter. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released India's economic growth data for the second quarter of the current financial year (FY23). India's gross domestic product or GDP grew by 6.3% in Q2 on a year-on-year basis. In other words, it was 6.3% more than the GDP in the same months in 2021. MoSPI also reported that India's Gross Value Added (or GVA) in Q2 grew by. 5.6% on a year on year basis.

Meanwhile, India's eight core sectors' output growth almost turned flat in October, coming at just 0.1% from 7.8% in September, with cement and refinery products slipping into contraction. The Index of Core Industries released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, which constitutes about 40% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was unchanged month-on-month at 138.

Gainers & Losers:

Hindalco Industries (up 2.84%), Tech Mahindra (up 2.53%), Tata Consultancy Services (up 2.12%), Ultratech Cement (up 1.53%) and HCL Technologies (up 1.32%) were top Nifty gainers.

Cipla (down 1.40%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.13%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.85%), UPL (down 0.81%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.98%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro rose 1.14%. The EPC major on Thursday announced that it has closed a three-year $107 million sustainability-linked loan (SLL) from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) on 30 November 2022.

Bajaj Auto declined 0.98% after the company recorded 19% fall in total auto sales to 3,06,552 units in November 2022 from 3,79,276 units in November 2021. While domestic sales declined by 4% YoY to 1,52,716 units, exports contracted by 30% YoY to 1,53,836 units during the period under review. The company sold 2,62,120 two-wheeler units (down 23% YoY) and 44,432 commercial vehicle units (up 9% YoY) in November 2022.

Escorts Kubota gained 2.57% after the company's Agri Machinery Segment sold 7,960 tractors in November 2022, which is higher by 11.9% as compared with 7,116 tractors sold in November 2021. Domestic tractor sales in November 2022 were at 7,359 tractors registering a growth of 13.4% on YoY basis. The company's Construction Equipment Segment recorded sales of 402 machines during the month, up 28.8% YoY. The segment had sold 312 machines sold in November 2021.

Ashok Leyland rose 0.50%. The Hinduja Group company's total commercial vehicle (CV) sales jumped 39% to 14,561 units in November 2022 from 10,480 units sold in November 2021. While the total sales of medium & heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) surged 69% year on year to 9,474 units and total sales of light commercial vehicle (LCV) rose 4% year on year to 5,087 units during the period under review.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks advanced carrying on the optimism behind Wall Street's rally as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirmed smaller rate hikes could start in December.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for China came in at 49.4, higher than expectations. The reading marks a fourth consecutive month of contraction, after a reading of 49.2 from October and dipping to 48.1 in September.

South Korea's revised gross domestic product for the third quarter confirmed growth of 3.1% compared to the same period a year ago - higher than a 2.9% expansion seen in the second quarter. The economy saw slower quarterly growth of 0.3% in the third quarter, following a growth of 0.7% in the previous period.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank might scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes as soon as December.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said it was time to slow the pace of coming interest rate hikes while also signaling a protracted economic adjustment to a world where borrowing costs will remain high, inflation comes down slowly and the United States remains chronically short of workers.

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