Bengaluru:

India is likely to soon overtake China as the most influential in a key emerging markets index, pulling in more foreign funds and adding fuel to a stock market rally that, though already among the best globally, is “only past the halfway mark”, Morgan Stanley said.

India’s weightage in the MSCI emerging markets index rose to 19.8% after a rejig in August, closing in on China’s 24.2%. India’s weightage has steadily increased from 9.2% in December 2020, while China’s has dropped from 39.1%.

“A rising weight essentially means more absolute foreign flows,” analysts led by Ridham Desai said in a note on Wednesday.

“In the context of India being underweight in the average emerging markets portfolio, this is even better for foreign portfolio flows.”

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought shares worth 531.78 billion rupees ($6.33 billion) so far in 2024, and have remained net buyers since June, bolstered by policy continuity after the country’s elections and an imminent start to global interest rate cuts.

So far, the sustained inflows from domestic institutional investors, mutual funds and retail traders have helped power the benchmark Nifty 50 to record highs. Its 16% jump this year is more than most other markets, including China.

Mr Desai expects the rally to continue as fiscal consolidation allows private borrowing and spending to fuel the next leg of earnings growth and as higher FII inflows will keep liquidity in surplus, lending resilience.

“We think we are only past the halfway mark in the current bull market. A bull market peak for India is possibly still in the future and the weight in the EM index could have some more distance to travel before it peaks.”

Morgan Stanley retained India as its top pick among emerging markets and second favourite, behind Japan, in the Indo-Pacific region.

Among stocks, it prefers cyclicals over defensives and large-caps over small-caps. And among sectors, it is ‘overweight’ on financials, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials, and is ‘underweight’ on others. ($1 = 83.9690 Indian rupees)
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

India is likely to soon overtake China as the most influential in a key emerging markets index, pulling in more foreign funds and adding fuel to a stock market rally that, though already among the best globally, is “only past the halfway mark”, Morgan Stanley said.

India’s weightage in the MSCI emerging markets index rose to 19.8% after a rejig in August, closing in on China’s 24.2%. India’s weightage has steadily increased from 9.2% in December 2020, while China’s has dropped from 39.1%.

“A rising weight essentially means more absolute foreign flows,” analysts led by Ridham Desai said in a note on Wednesday.

“In the context of India being underweight in the average emerging markets portfolio, this is even better for foreign portfolio flows.”

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have bought shares worth 531.78 billion rupees ($6.33 billion) so far in 2024, and have remained net buyers since June, bolstered by policy continuity after the country’s elections and an imminent start to global interest rate cuts.

So far, the sustained inflows from domestic institutional investors, mutual funds and retail traders have helped power the benchmark Nifty 50 to record highs. Its 16% jump this year is more than most other markets, including China.

Mr Desai expects the rally to continue as fiscal consolidation allows private borrowing and spending to fuel the next leg of earnings growth and as higher FII inflows will keep liquidity in surplus, lending resilience.

“We think we are only past the halfway mark in the current bull market. A bull market peak for India is possibly still in the future and the weight in the EM index could have some more distance to travel before it peaks.”

Morgan Stanley retained India as its top pick among emerging markets and second favourite, behind Japan, in the Indo-Pacific region.

Among stocks, it prefers cyclicals over defensives and large-caps over small-caps. And among sectors, it is ‘overweight’ on financials, technology, consumer discretionary and industrials, and is ‘underweight’ on others. ($1 = 83.9690 Indian rupees)
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ticked higher to close at fresh all-time high levels today, following buying in market heavyweights ICICI Bank, Infosys and TCS amid a largely positive trend in global equities.

The 30-share BSE Sensex scaled an intraday record high of 80,392.64 in early trade. The index pared most of the gains later due to volatility and profit-taking by investors at record levels. Sensex closed 62.87 points or 0.08 per cent higher at 80,049.67, its all-time closing high.

The broader Nifty also hit an intra-day record high of 24,401 in early trade before closing almost flat. The 50-issue index rose by 15.65 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at a record 24,302.15 with 23 of its shares closing higher and 27 with losses.

“The defensive bet on large caps like IT and pharma gained momentum due to the diminishing US inflationary pressure, improvement in QoQ earnings outlook and a resultant sharp fall in the US 10-year bond yield.

“The buoyancy in government spending and the green shoots in corporate earnings are now supporting the premium valuation. Return of FIIs to the domestic market and expectation of a rate cut in September are supporting market sentiment,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Among Sensex shares, HCL Technologies, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Mahindra and Mahindra were the gainers.

In contrast, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and IndusInd Bank were among the laggards.

Analysts said that stock markets traded within a narrow range and ended nearly unchanged.

“The Nifty has approached its immediate target of 24,500 and appears slightly overextended. It would be prudent to take some profits and wait for a potential dip before considering new long positions in the index,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap gauge jumped 0.62 per cent and the midcap index climbed 0.60 per cent.

Among the indices, healthcare soared by 1.17 per cent, IT jumped by 1.12 per cent, teck by 0.98 per cent, auto by 0.88 per cent and telecommunication rose by 0.73 per cent.

However, consumer durables fell by 0.22 per cent, FMCG (0.15 per cent), financial services (0.13 per cent), and Oil & Gas (0.02 per cent).

A total of 2,185 stocks advanced while 1,742 declined and 94 remained unchanged on the BSE.

As many as 23 Nifty shares advanced, 27 declined on the exchange.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul ended in the positive territory, while Shanghai closed in the red.

European markets were trading in the green territory in mid-session deals.

US markets ended higher on Wednesday during the shortened trading session. Stock exchanges will remain closed on Thursday on account of Independence Day.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.52 per cent to USD 86.89 a barre.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 5,483.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached a new lifetime peak of Rs 317.33 lakh crore on Wednesday as the benchmark Sensex maintained its winning run for the fourth day running.

Fag-end buying helped the BSE Sensex climb 100.26 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 65,880.52. In four days, the benchmark index has jumped 1,049.11 points or 1.61 per cent.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms hit a fresh peak of Rs 3,17,33,804.37 crore at the end of trade. Investors’ wealth also climbed Rs 7,74,665.67 crore in four days of market rally.

“Markets witnessed a choppy ride in intra-day trade but selective buying in late trade helped benchmark indices log gains for the 4th straight session,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraTech Cement, ITC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers.

Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed marginally by 0.13 per cent while smallcap index skidded 0.04 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication jumped 1.69 per cent, FMCG climbed 1.05 per cent, consumer durables (0.89 per cent), healthcare (0.69 per cent) and energy (0.67 per cent).

Commodities, financial services, industrials, IT, bankex, capital goods, metal and realty were the laggards.

“A spike in crude oil reverberated across the globe, reviving concerns about inflation and sparking fears of a Fed rate hike. This led to a surge in US bond yields, causing investors to shift towards the safety of bonds and reversing the buying trend of foreign investors in the domestic market.

“Nevertheless, the resilience of the domestic markets shone through as investors placed their bets on an improved outlook, ultimately helping the market recover from the initial shock,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.