Indian equities trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity markets erased all of their initial gains and were now trading lower in morning deals, dragged by losses in IT, TECK and Metal stocks. Traders turned cautious after Fitch Ratings slashed its India's economic growth forecast for current fiscal year to 7 per cent from previous estimate of 7.8 per cent. Some concern also came as Apex body for exporters Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) stating that with global trade facing headwinds due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, merchandise exports from India are expected to grow at a slower pace during the current fiscal. It may rise about 11 per cent to over $470 billion. Exports grew 45 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $422 billion in 2021-22. Besides, foreign institutional investors offloaded Rs 1,397.51 crore from the domestic equities on Wednesday. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, as energy stocks saw significant strength amid spiking crude oil prices. However, traders remained cautious amid persisting worries about inflation and tighter policy stance of global central banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60205.19, down by 141.78 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 60156.06 and 60676.12. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.23%, Power up by 0.81%, Utilities up by 0.80%, Telecom up by 0.59% and Industrials up by 0.45%, while IT down by 1.28%, TECK down by 1.16%, Metal down by 1.05%, Realty down by 0.67% and Basic Materials down by 0.47% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.65%, NTPC up by 1.43%, ICICI Bank up by 1.13%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.66% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.64%, Infosys down by 2.28%, Indusind Bank down by 1.79%, HCL Technologies down by 1.45% and Tata Steel down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a view to regulate the pre-owned vehicles market in the country, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued a draft notification to promote ease of doing business and transparency in the sale and purchase of registered vehicles through dealers. The pre-owned car market in India has been gradually gaining ground. In recent years, the advent of online marketplaces, which are involved in buying and selling of pre-owned vehicles, has further given a boost to this market.

In the current ecosystem, many issues were being faced, including during transfer of vehicle to subsequent transferee, disputes in regard to third party damage liabilities, difficulty in determination of defaulter etc. MoRTH has proposed amendments in Chapter III of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, to build a comprehensive regulatory ecosystem for the pre-owned car market. The key provisions of the proposed rules include an authorisation certificate for the dealers of registered vehicles to identify the authenticity of a dealer.

Furthermore, the procedure for intimation of delivery of vehicle between the registered owner and the dealer has been detailed. The powers and responsibilities of a dealer in possession of registered vehicles have also been clarified. Dealers have been empowered to apply for renewal of registration certificate/renewal of certificate of fitness, duplicate registration certificate, NOC, transfer of ownership, of motor vehicles in their possession. As a regulatory measure, maintenance of an electronic vehicle trip register has been mandated which would contain details of the trip undertaken viz. trip purpose, driver, time, mileage etc.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17943.25, down by 60.50 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 17941.80 and 18096.15. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.31%, Eicher Motors up by 2.79%, ICICI Bank up by 0.99%, NTPC up by 0.96% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.67%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.35%, Infosys down by 2.31%, Cipla down by 2.30% and Indusind Bank down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 87.40 points or 0.46% to 18,934.50, Jakarta Composite soared 85.34 points or 1.17% to 7,363.42, Nikkei 225 surged 70.00 points or 0.25% to 27,888.62, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 37.75 points or 0.26% to 14,696.06 and Straits Times advanced 14.43 points or 0.44% to 3,272.45.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 2.84 points or 0.12% to 2,408.58 and Shanghai Composite declined 32.66 points or 1.01% to 3,204.88.