Benchmarks trade flat in noon session

Indian benchmarks traded mixed in noon session, with Sensex gaining 19 points, while Nifty was down by 5 points. Selling in frontline blue chip stocks such as Axis Bank, SBI and Hindustan Unilever restricted the markets to go up. Some support came as India's annual wholesale price-based inflation eased slightly to 15.18 per cent in June against 15.88 per cent in the month of May. The WPI in June 2021 was at 12.07 per cent. However, depreciating rupee for the fourth straight session continue to keep investors on sidelines. Rupee weakened after the US consumer price index rose to a multi-year high of 9.1 percent in June, that fuelled the speculation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates aggressively to tame soaring prices. The partially convertible rupee was at 79.88, down by 7 paise, against previous close of 79.81 per dollar. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after higher U.S. inflation stoked expectations of more rate hikes that investors worry will chill economic growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53533.20, up by 19.05 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 53433.76 and 53861.28. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.62%, Consumer Durables up by 0.18%, Capital Goods up by 0.15% and Auto was up by 0.02%, while Power down by 1.28%, Utilities down by 1.22%, Metal down by 0.77%, Basic Materials down by 0.68% and IT was down by 0.66% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.66%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.98%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.70% and Titan Co was up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.50%, SBI down by 1.13%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.04%, TCS down by 1.02% and ITC was down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) in a research report has expected the inflation in India to be about 5 per cent by March 23. It also said the 7.01 per cent consumer price index (CPI) inflation announced by the Indian government for June 2022 confirms the fact that the peak point has passed.

According to the SBI report, CPI inflation attributable to supply side factors started moving up after September 2021 while demand led CPI remained more or less constant. The two have been moving together post February 2022 (since the starting of Russia-Ukraine conflict). However, in the recent months demand led CPI inflation has moved up a bit, while supply led CPI inflation continues to moderate. Clearly, the RBI may have to raise rates further though, the clear downward trend in inflation attributable to supply side factors bodes quite well for inflation trajectory going forward.

The report further said the core inflation has trended down from its peak in April (taking last 12-months as reference period). The moderation is on account of fall in contribution of transport and communication from 1.7 per cent in April to 1.1 per cent in June. The fall in core CPI largely the product of fall in demand owing to lagged effect of high inflation in the past months. Further correction in prices of precious metal around April has contributed to correction in personal care and effect.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15961.60, down by 5.05 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 15937.55 and 16070.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.94%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.75%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.07%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.01% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 0.67%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.67%, Axis Bank down by 1.46%, UPL down by 1.15%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.10% and SBI was down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite declined 4.73 points or 0.14% to 3,279.56, Hang Seng decreased 154.71 points or 0.74% to 20,643.24, Straits Times trembled 28.94 points or 0.92% to 3,099.75 and KOSPI was down by 6.29 points or 0.27% to 2,322.32.

On the other side, Jakarta Composite soared 28.80 points or 0.43% to 6,669.79, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 113.84 points or 0.79% to 14,438.52 and Nikkei 225 was up by 164.62 points or 0.62% to 26,643.39.