Sensex rises 123 pts, Nifty closes above 18,600 in 4th straight day of gains Benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 123 points while Nifty closed above the 18,600 level in their fourth straight day of gains on Tuesday helped by FII inflows and firm Asian markets.Gains in financial, banking, capital goods and industrial shares helped the key indices close in the green in a range bound trade. Selling in select metal, IT and oil and gas shares restricted gains in key indices.The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 122.75 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 62,969.13. During the day, it jumped 189.74 points or 0.30 per cent to 63,036.12. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 35.20 points or 0.19 per cent to end at 18,633.85.Stock markets have been on the rise since Thursday last week. Sensex advanced by 1,195 points or 2 per cent while Nifty rose by 348 points or 2.26 per cent in the four-day rally. “The domestic market continued its rally as recent Q4 results indicated improvement in demand. Further, expectations of a normal monsoon and a drop in international commodity prices supported the rise in the margin profile,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.Hotels to cigarette conglomerate ITC was the biggest Sensex gainer, rising by 2.31 per cent..Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Maruti and Infosys were among the major gainers.On the other hand, Tech Mahindra fell the most by 1.27 per cent among Sensex shares. Tata Steel, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, TCS, Tata Motors and Titan were among the laggards.In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.22 per cent and midcap index advanced 0.16 per cent.Among the indices, financial services, services, teck, capital goods, bankex, IT and industrials were the gainers.Commodities, energy, telecommunication, auto, consumer durables, metal, oil & gas and realty were the laggards.”Markets managed to end higher in a range bound session, in continuation to the prevailing trend. After the flat start, it oscillated in a narrow range and settled around the upper band to close at 18,633.85 levels. Markets are gradually inching towards the record high however mixed global cues are capping the momentum,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank in its annual report said that India’s growth momentum is likely to continue in 2023-24 even as it made a case for pushing structural reforms to deal with the geopolitical developments and also to achieve sustained growth in the medium-term.In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green. The US markets were closed on Monday for Memorial Day. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Monday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,758.16 crore, according to exchange data.”As markets shrugged away inflation, supply-chain disruptions and a slowdown in certain discretionary spends, buoyant FII inflows of Rs 450 billion since April have powered the Bank Nifty to its yearly-high on Tuesday ahead of the MSCI rejig on Wednesday.”The sight of 63K on the BSE SENSEX today was indeed music to Bulls who made Hay in May,” S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said.
Logistics, good or bad, are driven by the states and the commerce ministry has a LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) report, based on perceptions. The 2023 version was released in December. Since states are heterogenous, in the reporting, they are divided into four groups—coastal, landlocked, north-east, and UTs. States that do well are called achievers. Nomenclature matters. Thus, states that are middling aren’t called average. They are called fast movers. States that are sub-par are called aspirers. Let me highlight coastal states, since 75% of export cargo is estimated to originate from them. Among coastal states, ones that do well are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The ones that lag are Goa, Odisha, and West Bengal. While India’s logistics performance may have improved over time, that’s not true of every state. Some have slipped. Most states have a state-level logistics policy, including Goa and Odisha. West Bengal, bottom of the pecking order in the coastal category, doesn’t have one. To quote from LEADS 2023, “Looking ahead, the State (West Bengal) could benefit from formulating a State Logistics Master Plan and State Logistics Policy to drive efficiency improvements and facilitate investments within the logistics sector and undertake consultation with the logistics stakeholders for educating and informing them about the initiatives State is undertaking for the development and improvement of logistics sector.”
Logistics has been talked about for a long time and India has also focused on improving performance. We are now getting some precise data on measurement and quantification. That helps.
Bibek Debroy, chairman, EAC-PM. Views are personal.