Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red, on the back of negatives cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained pessimistic, amid a private report estimating that India's consumer price index (CPI) firmed to 6.9% year-on-year in August, while core inflation likely stood at 6%. However some losses got trimmed, amid reports that India’s urban unemployment rate improved remarkably in the April-June quarter. The National Statistical Office revealed that it dipped to 7.6 per cent during the April-June quarter from 12.6 per cent during the corresponding quarter a year ago. It is a clear indication that the country's economy is coming out the grip of Covid-induced slowdown.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as China's exports grew less than expected in August. The figures published by the General Administration of Customs revealed that Exports increased 7.1 percent on a yearly basis in August. At the same time, the annual increase in imports slowed to 0.3 percent from 2.3 percent in July. Imports were forecast to grow 1.1 percent.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58909.48, down by 287.51 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 58722.89 and 58970.68. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Basic Materials up by 0.52%, Telecom up by 0.48%, FMCG up by 0.39%, Consumer Durables up by 0.27% and Healthcare up by 0.15%, while Auto down by 1.30%, TECK down by 0.66%, Bankex down by 0.65%, Realty down by 0.62% and IT down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.35%, Nestle up by 0.92%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.86%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.29% and Asian Paints up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.78%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.60%, Indusind Bank down by 1.54% and HCL Tech. down by 1.20% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that receivables of leading renewable energy (RE) companies will shrink 20 per cent during this financial year (FY23). It said leading RE companies are set to see their receivables reduce a fifth from 180 days a year ago to 140 days as of March 2023, a level last visible pre-COVID. It also noted that two-thirds of the improvement will be because of increasing central counter-party offtake, and the rest due to state discoms implementing the late payment surcharge (LPS) scheme.
According to the report, the incremental cash flow will allow RE companies to build capacity for growth and reduce leverage. Payment cycles had stretched in the past two fiscals because state discoms such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (accounting for 23 per cent of the overall capacity exposure) held back payments to RE developers following liquidity crunch or contractual disagreements. This increased the overall cycle for the 10 assessed RE companies by over 10 per cent to 180 days as of March 2022 (compared with the March 2019 level).
The report further said receivable levels could have deteriorated more but for the increase in the proportion of central counterparties to 40 per cent of the operational portfolio in March 2022 from 20 per cent in March 2019. It also stated that Central counterparties are expected to maintain their payment track record, given the benefit of diversity, payment security funds, and higher bargaining power, because of their scale and flexibilities, such as being a beneficiary in a tripartite agreement between state government, central government, and the Reserve Bank of India.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17582.05, down by 73.55 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 17484.30 and 17593.80. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 5.87%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.58%, Coal India up by 1.65%, Britannia up by 1.43% and Nestle up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.61%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.58%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.79%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.65% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.64% were the top losers.
All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 370.40 points or 1.93% to 18,832.33, Taiwan Weighted dropped 267.15 points or 1.82% to 14,410.05, Straits Times trembled 19.66 points or 0.61% to 3,204.52, Nikkei 225 slipped 196.21 points or 0.71% to 27,430.30, KOSPI fell 37.39 points or 1.55% to 2,372.63, Shanghai Composite declined 0.48 points or 0.01% to 3,242.97 and Jakarta Composite lost 41.00 points or 0.57% to 7,192.16.
