Sensex, Nifty remain lower in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained lower in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red terrain. Mixed cues from other Asian markets impacted domestic sentiments. Traders remained worried, as survey by IHS Markit showed India's dominant services sector growth slowed to six-month low in January as restrictions due to Omicron wave of Covid-19 cases and surging prices weighed on demand. The IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slumped to 51.5 in January from 55.5 in December.

Besides, credit ratings agency ICRA said that the domestic two-wheeler sales witnessed a 21 per cent year-on-year decline in January, even as the segment registered a 14 per cent sequential growth in domestic wholesale volumes, while the passenger vehicle wholesale volumes declined marginally by 3 per cent Y-o-Y.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after the manufacturing sector in Malaysia continued to expand in January, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.5. That's down from 52.8 in December, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59122.88, down by 435.45 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 59108.12 and 59557.87. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.53%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.46%, Consumer discretionary up by 0.44%, Consumer Durables up by 0.41% and Metal up by 0.04%, while Capital Goods down by 1.17%, Oil & Gas down by 1.15%, Energy down by 1.01%, IT down by 0.74% and TECK down by 0.68% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.49%, Titan Co up by 0.98%, Asian Paints up by 0.76%, ITC up by 0.43% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.42%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.95%, NTPC down by 2.63%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.46% and Infosys down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India is on track to achieve the $400-billion export target in the current fiscal (FY22) and is negotiating trade agreements with countries like the UAE, the EU and Canada. He noted that for 10th month in a row, April 2021 to January 2022, India has posted over $30 billion of exports. It is a record, it has already crossed $334 billion of exports which is more than the highest ever that it has done in full 12 months period.

Goyal has stated that the prices of most of the commodities, including petroleum products, are prevailing high and because of this there is a stress on all sectors. However, he said international prices of finished products have commensurately increased and hence the exports of these products have not faced detriments. He also said that the government is working to negotiate free trade agreements (FTA) or comprehensive economic partnership so that Indian exporters to get similar price advantage benefits.

The minister said ‘we have launched FTA negotiations with the UAE, Australia, the United Kingdom, the EU, Canada. We are also in dialogue with GCC countries -- the bloc of six countries in the Middle East-- who have shown keen interest in FTA with India and we hope to launch the negotiation in the near future’. With regard to support to small and medium industries, he said Rs 4.50 lakh crore government-guaranteed loans were given to 1.30 crore MSMEs during the Covid pandemic. He added that the government is committed to increasing manufacturing and see India as manufacturing hub.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17659.30, down by 120.70 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 17651.55 and 17781.15. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.32%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.57%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.38%, Titan Co up by 0.91% and Eicher Motors up by 0.81%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.00%, NTPC down by 2.80%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.25%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.08% and ONGC down by 1.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 64.50 points or 2.42% to 2,727.84 and Straits Times advanced 67.44 points or 2.08% to 3,317.03. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 297.80 points or 1.08% to 27,235.80 and Jakarta Composite lost 26.97 points or 0.4% to 6,680.68.