Sensex, Nifty manage to trade in green in late morning session

In a volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks were managing to trade in green terrain in late morning session. Traders got support, as Rating agency Crisil in its latest report ‘India Outlook, Fiscal 2023′ has said that Indian economy is likely to grow by 7.8 per cent in 2022-23, mainly driven by the government’s drive to push infrastructure spending and likely increase in private capital expenditure. However, gains were limited, as IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the war in Ukraine and massive sanctions against Russia have triggered a contraction in global trade, sending food and energy prices sharply higher and forcing the International Monetary Fund to lower its global growth forecast next month. Some worries also came, after N S Vishwanathan, Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, said India needs a very strong bond market that can fund projects and manage its risks. He mentioned projects with implementation risks should normally be financed by the capital markets and not by banks using public deposits.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after Japanese large companies' confidence turned negative in the first quarter. The survey results from the Ministry of Finance showed that the large industries' business survey index fell to -7.5 in January to March period from +9.6 in the preceding period. Nonetheless, the situation is expected to improve in the second quarter of 2022. The BSI for April to June period rose to 4.7 points.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55659.39, up by 195.00 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 55049.95 and 55833.95. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.33%, Bankex up by 0.67%, PSU up by 0.62%, Metal up by 0.49% and Realty up by 0.39%, while Auto down by 0.68%, Consumer Durables down by 0.26%, FMCG down by 0.08%, Power down by 0.02% and Industrials down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.41%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.63%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.30%, Axis Bank up by 1.13% and SBI up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.44%, Nestle down by 1.33%, NTPC down by 0.83%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.61% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that India has been very good at managing its finances but the surge in global energy prices is going to have a negative impact on its economy. She observed that the war has posed a challenge to economies around the world, including India.

Georgieva said clearly the most significant channel of impact on the Indian economy is energy prices. She noted that India is an importer and the increase in energy prices is going to have a negative impact. India has been very good in managing its finances. She stressed that there are some fiscal spaces to be able to respond to the challenge.

The IMF managing director said ‘our advice to our members is first and foremost make sure that you protect the most vulnerable populations from the shot up of prices, not only energy but also foot food prices for countries where this is going to be a significant factor.’ She also said ‘target your fiscal space to those that are in a grievous need to be supported. We would also be looking into monetary policy responses, as to how could they be calibrated appropriately to what is happening.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16641.00, up by 46.10 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 16470.90 and 16694.40. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.70%, Sun Pharma up by 2.46%, JSW Steel up by 1.83%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.78% and Coal India up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.84%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.81%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.52%, Nestle down by 1.40% and Eicher Motors down by 0.89% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 667.47 points or 3.2% to 20,222.79, Nikkei 225 slipped 648.23 points or 2.52% to 25,042.17, Taiwan Weighted dropped 162.43 points or 0.93% to 17,270.77, KOSPI fell 30.57 points or 1.14% to 2,649.75, Shanghai Composite declined 71.17 points or 2.16% to 3,224.92, Straits Times trembled 0.40 points or 0.01% to 3,240.33 and Jakarta Composite lost 33.50 points or 0.48% to 6,890.51.