Key indices keep head above water in noon deals

Local equity benchmarks managed to keep their head above water in noon deals with both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 54900 and 16350 marks, respectively. Some support came in as country’s exports increased 24.18 per cent to USD 9.39 billion during June 1-7, 2022 on account of healthy growth in sectors like engineering, gems and jewellery and petroleum products. The exports during June 1-7, 2021 stood at USD 7.56 billion. However, upside remain capped as boiling crude oil prices ramped up inflation fear, with top officials warning of more pain to come as the Ukraine war continues to push up and put further pressure on the global economy. Meanwhile, India's daily COVID-19 cases rose further, with government data released on Thursday showing daily cases rose 7,240 in the last 24 hours, the highest since March 2.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as investors remain worried that central bank policy tightening to control inflation could spark an economic slowdown. Back home, selling pressure in metal, basic materials and realty stocks kept a lid on the gains, while buying in telecom, energy and oil & gas stocks helped the markets. In scrip specific development, BLS International jumped on acquisition of Zero Mass in an all-cash deal, while Deepak Nitrite tumbled amid buzz of plant closure notice post fire incident.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54938.36, up by 45.87 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 54507.41 and 55010.89. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.32%, Energy up by 1.07%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77%, Healthcare up by 0.44% and TECK was up by 0.37%, while Metal down by 2.04%, Basic Materials down by 1.18%, Realty down by 0.53%, Bankex down by 0.41% and Industrials was down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.86%, Reliance Industries up by 1.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.17%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.02% and ITC was up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.33%, Asian Paints down by 1.63%, SBI down by 1.38%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.15% and Ultratech Cement was down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that enabling policies and proactive steps taken by the government -- including corporate tax cuts and digitization of the economy -- helped the country deal with the unprecedented situation arising due to the pandemic. She said India, with its strong fundamentals, has periodically faced challenges and emerged out of it.

The minister said various steps taken by the government since 2014 helped keep the economy and people afloat in difficult times and its targeted approach during the pandemic helped citizens. She said ‘even after pulling the economy out, removing all the under-growth (post-2014), you still had challenges and in a way the three major steps which were taken -- reducing the corporate tax, formalization/digitization of the economy, IBC code, GST -- the heavy-lifting that happened prepared us for a situation which nobody could imagine.’

Sitharaman said over the last 2 years, despite COVID, Indian retail investors have found online means to access the stock market and Sebi has a role to play in investor education. She also emphasized that the government looks at the targeted approach of providing assistance and takes the input from the ground quickly.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16363.30, up by 7.05 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 16243.85 and 16393.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.88%, ONGC up by 1.50%, SBI Life Insuran up by 1.48%, Reliance Industries up by 1.24% and Eicher Motors up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.55%, Shree Cement down by 2.52%, Hindalco down by 2.45%, JSW Steel down by 1.99% and Grasim Industries down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 189.60 points or 0.86% to 21,824.99, Taiwan Weighted dropped 49.17 points or 0.29% to 16,621.34, Shanghai Composite declined 24.51 points or 0.75% to 3,239.28, KOSPI fell 0.71 points or 0.03% to 2,625.44 and Straits Times was down by 16.17 points or 0.5% to 3,209.63.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 58.69 points or 0.82% to 7,252.00 and Nikkei 225 was up by 12.24 points or 0.04% to 28,246.53.