Markets remain subdued in noon trade

Indian bourses continued to trade lower as selling appeared in metal, FMCG and consumer durables stocks with Sensex and Nifty losing 131 and 25 points respectively. Sentiments were under pressure as Rating agency Crisil’s latest report stated that higher diesel prices will shave off the overall profitability of transporters despite an improvement in freight rates since last month following the withdrawal of the monsoons, consumption recovery and higher infrastructure activity. Traders were also worried on continuous outflow of foreign capital. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again stood as sellers as they offloaded shares worth Rs 860.65 crore in the capital market on Monday, exchange data showed. In scrip specific developments, Route Mobile declined after the company announced the launch of its QIP (qualified institutional placement) of equity shares, while S H Kelkar and Co zoomed after 10% equity changes hands via block deals. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green boosted by the weekend passage of a long-delayed $1 trillion U.S. infrastructure bill, awaited the release of inflation data from the United States.

Back on street, BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60414.31, down by 131.30 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 60321.81 and 60670.47. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.91%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.35%, Auto up by 1.26%, Capital Goods up by 0.95%, Power up by 0.57% and PSU was up by 0.57%, while Metal down by 0.79%, FMCG down by 0.39%, Consumer Durables down by 0.25% and Bankex was down by 0.01% were the losing top indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.45%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.16%, Indusind Bank up by 0.92% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 0.85%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.63%, HDFC Bank down by 1.45%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.28%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.22% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Power Ministry has said that peak power demand deficit in the country was almost wiped out in 2020-21 period. It said the deficit stood at 0.4% in 2020-21. In the current year (2021-22) till October, the peak power demand has been (-) 1.2% and the marginal spike was attributable to the annual post monsoon pressure on power output. This is also likely to normalise by the end of the year.

The ministry has stated that India had a massive power deficit of 16.6% in 2007-08 and in 2011-12, it was 10.6%. Through the multi-pronged, comprehensive and aggressive interventions of the government, this deficit is near about wiped out, consistently over the last three years -- 0.4% in 2020-21, 0.7% in 2019-20 and 0.8% in 2018-19. This transformation from an acutely power deficit country to a situation of demand being met, except for an extremely marginal shortfall of less than 1%, has been made possible by the schemes brought in by the current government to address the unhappy situation.

It further noted that the schemes include Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), which was brought in July, 2015 for infrastructure push in the rural sector and the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), which was introduced in November 2014, to address power infrastructure gaps in urban areas.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18043.20, down by 25.35 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 18015.30 and 18112.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.57%, Divi's Lab up by 1.57%, SBI up by 1.54% and Grasim Industries was up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 2.49%, HDFC down by 1.72%, HDFC Bank down by 1.42%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.24% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite gained 9.27 points or 0.26% to 3,507.90, Jakarta Composite soared 18.28 points or 0.28% to 6,650.58, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 126.06 points or 0.72% to 17,541.36, Hang Seng increased 20.22 points or 0.08% to 24,783.99 and KOSPI was up by 1.18 points or 0.04% to 2,961.38.

On the other hand; Straits Times trembled 12.30 points or 0.38% to 3,251.60 and Nikkei 225 was down by 221.59 points or 0.75% to 29,285.46.