Markets trim opening gains to trade flat with positive bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made positive start on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. But, soon markets turned volatile and trimmed gains to trade flat with positive bias in early deals amid mixed cues from Asian peers. Initial optimism came in as Nitin Gupta, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the Centre’s direct tax collection as on August 30 stood at Rs 4.8 trillion, which is 33 per cent more than the Rs 3.6 trillion collected in the same period last year. Gupta said if the trend continued, direct tax collection for FY23 could exceed the Budget target of Rs 14.20 trillion. However, some cautiousness crept in as chief economist at State Bank of India revised downward the full-year growth forecast to a low 6.8 per cent from 7.5 per cent earlier for FY2023, citing the way below GDP numbers for the first quarter. More pessimism came in as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 2,290.31 crore on September 1.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as traders remain cautious and concerned about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of the US Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later in the day. Data showing contraction in manufacturing activity in Asia and Europe also ignited worries about a recession. Reports showing a surge in COVID-19 cases in China also weighed on market sentiment. Back home, power stocks were in limelight as the power ministry data showed that India's power consumption grew marginally by nearly 2 per cent year-on-year to 130.35 billion units (BU) in August 2022. In stock specific development, Adani Enterprises hit 52-week high on reports of inclusion in the Nifty50 index.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58845.76, up by 79.17 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 58674.66 and 59108.66. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.80%, Utilities up by 0.79%, Capital Goods up by 0.66%, Telecom up by 0.63%, Industrials up by 0.56%, while Metal down by 0.60%, Basic Materials down by 0.21%, Oil & Gas down by 0.12%, Energy down by 0.04%, IT down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.74%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.11%, ITC up by 0.80%, Asian Paints up by 0.59% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.94%, Tata Steel down by 0.70%, Reliance Industries down by 0.45%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.38% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly data on India’s International Trade in Services has showed that the country’s services exports increased by 20.2 per cent year-on-year to $23.26 billion in July 2022. However, the July exports were lower than $25.29 billion in June this fiscal.

As per the data, the country’s services imports rose 22.3 per cent to $13.92 billion in July. In June, the imports stood at $15.76 billion. The exports during April-July 2022-23 stood at $94.75 billion, and the imports totalled $58.94 billion during the period.

The RBI said monthly data on services are provisional and are likely to undergo revision when the Balance of Payments (BoP) data are released on a quarterly basis. Earlier, Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC) had said that services sector exports are likely to touch $350 billion in the current fiscal. India's services sector exports touched an all-time high of around $250 billion in FY22.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17554.40, up by 11.60 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 17512.15 and 17643.85. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.02%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.87%, Eicher Motors up by 1.22%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.11% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 1.50%, BPCL down by 0.95%, Hindalco down by 0.85%, ONGC down by 0.78% and Indusind Bank down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 fell 7.56 points or 0.03% to 27,653.91, Straits Times slipped 10.95 points or 0.34% to 3,213.13, Hang Seng lost 124.19 points or 0.63% to 19,473.12 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 63.85 points or 0.43% to 14,738.01. On the other hand, KOSPI added 2.46 points or 0.10% to 2,418.07 and Jakarta Composite rose 29.55 points or 0.41% to 7,182.65, Shanghai Composite was up by 8.92 points or 0.28% to 3,193.90.