Sensex, Nifty cut some gains in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks cut some gains in late morning session, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Gains got trimmed, as sounding a red alert on India's CPI inflation at an 8-year high print of 7.79% YoY in April, Acuite Ratings has said it may trigger quicker rate hikes. Adding some worries, a private report stated that cryptocurrencies can lead to 'dollarisation' of a part of the economy which would be against India's sovereign interest. However, markets remained in green, as the Reserve Bank of India has said that public sector banks reported over 51 per cent dip in the amount involved in frauds to Rs 40,295.25 crore during the financial year ended March 2022.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after industrial output in China was down 2.9 percent on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday - missing expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent and down from 5.0 percent in March. The bureau also said that retail sales tumbled an annual 11.1 percent in April - again shy of forecasts for a decline of 6.1 percent after slipping 3.5 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53042.38, up by 248.76 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 52632.48 and 53428.28. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.96%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.89%, Auto up by 1.49%, Bankex up by 1.37%, Telecom up by 1.31% and Utilities up by 1.20%, while IT down by 0.36%, TECK down by 0.36% and FMCG down by 0.16% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.36%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.20%, Indusind Bank up by 1.66%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.62% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.04%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.50%, Power Grid down by 1.35%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.29% and Asian Paints down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its latest survey has said that retail businesses across India grew 23 per cent in April 2022 in terms of sales as compared to pre-pandemic levels of the same month in 2019 with customers coming back to stores.

In terms of categories, it said the quick service restaurant segment grew the highest at 45 per cent in April 2022 over the corresponding period of 2019, followed by consumer durables and electronics at 26 per cent. Apparel and clothing, and sports goods categories grew by 23 per cent each, while footwear rose by 22 per cent. Food and grocery segment witnessed a growth of 15 per cent and jewellery also saw a rise of 8 per cent in April this year compared to the same month of 2019. However, the beauty, wellness and personal care segment is yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels. It registered a decline of 1 per cent in the period under review as against April 2019.

RAI said while most of the categories have shown good performance, it is important to note that about 10 per cent of this growth can be accounted to inflation. It hope that this continues since the headwinds, thanks to inflation, could act as a dampener for the upward trajectory.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15841.45, up by 59.30 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 15739.65 and 15977.95. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 5.83%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.80%, SBI up by 2.36%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.12% and UPL up by 1.99%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.59%, Grasim Industries down by 2.04%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.96%, Tata Motors down by 1.60% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 73.65 points or 0.37% to 19,825.12, Shanghai Composite declined 15.80 points or 0.51% to 3,068.48 and KOSPI fell 1.69 points or 0.06% to 2,602.55. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 75.13 points or 0.47% to 15,907.67 and Nikkei 225 surged 120.52 points or 0.46% to 26,548.17.