India Stocks Advance In the Final Week of 2023

Arjun Pandit
27 Dec, 2023
Mumbai

Stocks opened higher, and positive sentiment prevailed in trading on Dalal Street.

The Sensex and the Nifty indexes advanced and extended their gains for the second day this week in a broad rally that lifted stocks across all market caps.

 

Current Account Gap Narrows In September Quarter

The current account deficit in the September quarter narrowed to $8.3 billion from $30.9 billion a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India reported late Tuesday.

The decline in the international trade deficit supported the current account gap improvement.

The merchandise goods deficit in the quarter shrank to $61.0 billion from $78.3 billion, and the service surplus rose to $40.0 billion from $34.4 billion.

Meanwhile, the primary income gap increased to $12.2 billion from $11.8 billion, and the secondary income edged higher to $25 billion from $24.8 billion a year ago.

There was an accretion of foreign exchange reserves by $2.5 billion compared to a depletion of $30.4 billion in the quarter a year ago. 

In the first half of fiscal 2024, the current account gap shrank to $17.5 billion from $48.8 billion a year ago, largely reflecting lower energy costs.

 

India Indexes and Yields

The Sensex index increased 366.83 points to 71,703.68, and the Nifty index rose 110.40 points to 21,551.75. 

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 233 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 12 stocks traded at their 52-week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Indian government bonds held firm at 7.18%, and the Indian rupee hovered near ₹83.21 against the U.S. dollar.

The gold price increased by 0.03% to ₹62,740 per ten grams, and silver edged up by 0.01% to ₹75,025 per kilo.

Crude oil increased by 2.3% to ₹6,306 per barrel, and natural gas fell by 0.2% to ₹201.80 per thermal unit.

 

India Stock Movers

Adani Green Energy increased 1.8% to ₹1,630.0, and the company said it completed the transfer of assets to a joint venture with the France-based TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies contributed $300 million, and Adani Green transferred a portfolio of renewable power generation assets with a capacity to produce 1.05 GW of power.

Adani Energy Solutions soared 2.1% to ₹1,062.0, and the company said it received a letter of intent from PFC Consulting to acquire the Halvad Transmission project.

The Halvad project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

SJVN Ltd. gained 2.9% to ₹94.25 after the company was awarded a 100 MW solar power project from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam for an estimated value of ₹550 crore.