Sensex, Nifty remain lower in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained lower in late morning session, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious, amid a private report stating that India’s central bank will likely raise its inflation outlook this week to reflect costlier oil, but leave borrowing costs steady and tap other policy tools it’s used before to support an economy facing new risks to recovery. Besides, Union Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane said that India's national highway construction slowed to 28.64 km a day in 2021-22 due to COVID-19 pandemic related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Hong Kong's private sector contracted at a sharper pace in March amid lingering COVID-19 disruptions. The survey results from S&P Global showed that the Purchasing Managers' Index posted below the 50.0 neutral threshold at 42.0 in March, down from 42.9 in February. The sector shrank for the third straight month with the latest fall the fastest since April 2020.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59331.86, down by 278.55 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 59120.06 and 59402.61. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.43%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.24%, Utilities up by 2.19%, Realty up by 1.30%, PSU up by 0.72% and Bankex up by 0.62%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.57%, Metal down by 0.53%, IT down by 0.44% and Auto down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.12%, Axis Bank up by 1.93%, ICICI Bank up by 1.75%, Indusind Bank up by 1.38% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 2.32%, HDFC down by 2.13%, Wipro down by 1.54%, Reliance Industries down by 1.45% and HDFC Bank down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic credit ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that India is likely to see around 48,000 additional electric vehicle (EV) chargers at an investment of around Rs 14,000 crore over the next 3-4 years amid an expected healthy electric vehicle (EV) penetration in the country. As the EV penetration is expected to increase in the two and three wheeler as well as bus segments, the expansion of charging infrastructure which is currently at a nascent stage will play a critical role.

According to the report, the penetration of electric two-wheelers is expected to be at about 13-15 per cent of the new vehicle sales by FY25. It also expects electric three-wheeler and e-bus segment penetrations at more than 30 per cent and 8-10 per cent, respectively, by FY25. Currently, it said there are less than 2,000 public charging stations in India with concentration in a few states, and that too primarily in urban areas.

The report further said India remains a laggard in EV charging infrastructure penetration. However, like most global counterparts, the policy push has been strong in India as well to increase the number of EV charging stations. To capitalise on the potential opportunity in the space, it said several PSUs and private players have also announced plans to foray into charging infrastructure. It added that battery swapping is an alternative solution instead of developing EV charging infrastructure, especially for commercial applications. This is also currently in nascent stage in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17732.75, down by 74.90 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 17672.30 and 17755.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.19%, Axis Bank up by 1.96%, ICICI Bank up by 1.53%, Indusind Bank up by 1.31% and Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 2.34%, HDFC down by 2.13%, Hindalco down by 1.70%, Wipro down by 1.58% and HDFC Bank down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 434.78 points or 1.59% to 26,915.52, Hang Seng decreased 289.22 points or 1.31 % to 21,791.30, Taiwan Weighted dropped 266.96 points or 1.52% to 17,255.54, KOSPI fell 33.44 points or 1.22% to 2,701.59, Shanghai Composite declined 32.37 points or 0.99% to 3,251.06 and Straits Times trembled 18.91 points or 0.55% to 3,404.04. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 17.86 points or 0.25% to 7,122.08.