Sensex up 163 pts; Nestle India jumps 3.90%

The key equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 21,450 level. FMCG, PSU bank and oil & gas shares advanced while IT, media and auto stocks corrected.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 162.93 points or 0.23% to 71,478.02. The Nifty 50 index added 40 points or 0.19% to 21,458.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.20% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.30%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,943 shares rose and 1,730 shares fell. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Nestle India (up 3.90%), NTPC (up 2.54%), Tata Consumer Products (up 2.38%), Reliance Industries (up 1.79%) and Coal India (up 1.75%) were major Nifty gainers.

Wipro (down 1.67%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.66%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 1.40%), Eicher Motors (down 1.32%) and HCL Technologies (down 1.28%) were major Nifty losers.

Economy:

India�s economic growth rate is expected to remain strong, supported by macroeconomic and financial stability, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment report released on Tuesday.

"Going forward, the country�s foundational digital public infrastructure and a strong government infrastructure program will continue to sustain growth. India has potential for even higher growth, with greater contributions from labour and human capital, if comprehensive reforms are implemented,� the report stated.

The country�s current account deficit is expected to improve to 1.8 per cent of GDP in FY2023/24 as a result of resilient services exports and, to a lesser extent, lower oil import costs, the report adds.

It projects a real GDP growth rate of 6.3 per cent in FY2023/24 and FY2024/25 and states that "headline inflation is expected to gradually decline to the target although it remains volatile due to food price shocks�.

The World Bank�s "Migration and Development Brief", released on Monday, states that the inward remittances to India in 2023 increased by 12.3 per cent to $125 billion from 111.22 billion in 2022. India`s inward remittances now account for 3.4 per cent of the country�s gross domestic product (GDP).

According to this report, India continues to be the highest recipient of remittances globally, followed by Mexico ($67 billion) and China ($50 billion). India currently accounts for 66 per cent of all remittances to South Asia, higher than 63 per cent in 2022.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vedanta rose 0.40% after the board of directors of the company has approved the second interim dividend of Rs 11 per share for the financial year 2023-24. The record date for the purpose of payment of dividend is 27 December 2023.

Nestle India gained 3.90% after the company fixed 5 January 2024 as the record date for determining entitlement of equity shareholders for the purpose of sub-division of equity shares of the company such that 1 equity share having face value of Rs 10 each will be subdivided into 10 equity shares having face value of Re. 1 each.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries shed 0.30%. The company has entered into agreement to acquire about stake 16.7% shares on fully diluted basis, in Lyndra Therapeutics, Inc., a company based in Massachusetts, engaged in the business of developing novel delivery technology for long-acting oral (LAO) therapies.

Devyani International jumped 5.46% after the company announced its entry into Thailand market through acquisition of equity stake in Restaurants Development Company and its holding companies.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia traded higher on Tuesday as investors assessed the Bank of Japan�s final rate decision for 2023. The BOJ made no change to its negative interest rate policy, holding the benchmark interest rate at -0.1%. The central bank also kept its stance on its yield curve control policy unchanged.

US stocks ended higher on Monday as market participants parsed mounting expectations of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in the coming year and looked ahead to a week of crucial economic data. A broad but modest rally boosted the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to solid gains, while the Dow ended flat.

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