Domestic indices trade flat in early deals; Sensex surpasses 60,100 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made slightly negative start on Tuesday tracking weakness in the global peers. But, soon domestic indices turned volatile and are struggling for direction. Now, benchmarks are trading flat in early deals as market participants awaited industrial output and CPI inflation figures for directional cues as well as the latest batch of earnings. Some cautiousness came in as the World Bank's chief economist said lack of growth is the biggest economic challenge facing developing economies. However, some support came in as industry body PHDCCI said the economy is poised to achieve 10.25 per cent GDP growth in FY 2021-22 on the back of effective government policies, Reserve Bank’s accommodative policy stance and improved business sentiments. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said it has released Rs 9,871 crore of revenue deficit grant to 17 states.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly lower following the firmly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are concerned about the outlook for inflation and interest rates amid the increase in commodity prices, particularly the surging crude oil prices. The mood also remained cautious amid the coronavirus situation in the region.

Back home, energy sector stocks were in focus as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said that India is set to achieve 450 GW renewable energy installed capacity by 2030. In scrip specific development, Tata Motors soared as its global wholesales in the second quarter of current financial year including JLR rose 24 percent from last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60115.82, down by 19.96 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 59991.59 and 60263.61. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.88%, Auto up by 0.73%, Metal up by 0.70%, FMCG up by 0.65%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.50%, while Realty down by 0.60%, IT down by 0.48%, TECK down by 0.48%, Telecom down by 0.37%, Oil & Gas down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.78%, Titan Company up by 1.37%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.04%, ITC up by 0.97% and SBI up by 0.81%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01%, Infosys down by 0.84%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.81% and ICICI Bank down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with effective government policies, Reserve Bank's accommodative policy stance and improved business sentiments, industry body -- the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has said that the Indian economy is poised to achieve 10.25 per cent GDP growth in FY 2021-22.

The chamber added the declining new coronavirus cases accelerated vaccination drive, improved consumer and business confidence, anticipated high demand amid the upcoming festive season, among others, will further enhance the pace of economic recovery in the coming months. However, it highlighted the need to address the high commodity prices and shortages of raw materials to support the consumption and private investments in the country.

PHDCCI said 'the drivers of household consumption needs to be further strengthened to enhance the aggregate demand as it will have an accelerated effect on the expansion of capital investments’. It urged the Centre to frontload the National Infrastructure Pipeline expenditure arguing that increased spending on infrastructure will give a multiplier effect to rejuvenate the aggregate demand in the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17948.50, up by 2.55 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 17906.80 and 17995.75. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.10%, Tata Motors up by 2.25%, Eicher Motors up by 1.55%, Titan Company up by 1.51% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.37%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.58%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.13%, Infosys down by 0.77%, ICICI Bank down by 0.74% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 lost 268.91 points or 0.94% to 28,229.29, Straits Times fell 17.58 points or 0.56% to 3,095.91, Hang Seng slipped 259.42 points or 1.02% to 25,065.67, Taiwan Weighted declined 224.63 points or 1.35% to 16,415.80, KOSPI plunged 42.62 points or 1.44% to 2,913.68 and Shanghai Composite was down by 37.33 points or 1.04% to 3,554.38, while Jakarta Composite rose 26.50 points or 0.41% to 6,486.20.