Benchmarks trade marginally lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains and were trading marginally lower in morning deals, dragged by losses in Metal, Basic Materials and IT stocks. Traders remained cautious as Consumer Pyramid Household Survey of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed that the employment rate among Indian youth (15-24 years) stood at 10.4% in 2021-22 compared to 10.9% in 2020-21. This is much lower when compared to the World Bank estimates of 23.2% for 2020. Some concern also came as provisional data available on the NSE showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 2,290.31 crore on September 1, 2022. However, losses remain capped as some support came with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly data on India’s International Trade in Services 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.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors awaited the release of all-important U.S. jobs data for August later in the day for clues on the size of the Federal Reserve's next interest-rate hike. Back home, Auto stocks remained in limelight with a private report that India’s auto sector demonstrated healthy growth rising to record levels in August year-on-year as shortage of semiconductors eased further helping companies to step up production ahead of the crucial festive season that kicked in with Ganesh Chaturthi on August 31.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58706.69, down by 59.90 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 58558.64 and 59108.66. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.50%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.81%, Capital Goods up by 0.81%, Industrials up by 0.76%, Power up by 0.76% and Telecom up by 0.69%, while Metal down by 0.85%, Basic Materials down by 0.40%, IT down by 0.24% and TECK down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.46%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.88%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.85% and ITC up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 0.95%, Tata Steel down by 0.85%, Nestle down by 0.84%, Infosys down by 0.66% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the power ministry in its latest data has said that India's power consumption grew marginally by nearly 2 per cent year-on-year to 130.35 billion units (BU) in August 2022. Power consumption in August last year was recorded at 127.88 BU, higher than 109.21 BU in the same month of 2020.

However, it stated the peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, in August 2022 dipped to 194.94 gigawatt (GW). The peak power supply stood at 196.27 GW in August 2021 and 167.52 GW in August 2020.

Power consumption and demand were affected in August 2020 due to the impact of lockdown restrictions that were imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. The peak power demand met was 177.52GW in August 2019 (pre-pandemic period). Similarly, power consumption in August 2019 was 111.52 BU.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17532.45, down by 10.35 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 17476.45 and 17643.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 1.94%, NTPC up by 1.34%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.16%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.10% and Eicher Motors up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.29%, Hindalco down by 1.27%, BPCL down by 1.04%, ONGC down by 1.00% and Indusind Bank down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 121.53 points or 0.62% to 19,475.78, Taiwan Weighted dropped 80.71 points or 0.55% to 14,721.15, Straits Times trembled 13.22 points or 0.41% to 3,210.86 and Nikkei 225 slipped 12.57 points or 0.05% to 27,648.90.

On the flip side, KOSPI rose 5.41 points or 0.22% to 2,421.02, Shanghai Composite gained 8.92 points or 0.28% to 3,193.90 and Jakarta Composite soared 22.18 points or 0.31% to 7,175.28.