Domestic indices extend opening losses in early deals; Oil & Gas up 1%

Indian equity benchmarks resumed their bearish trend after a day’s halt with flat-to-negative start on Monday tracking weakness in Asian peers. Soon, markets extended their losses and are trading lower with cut of over 0.60% each in early deals. Weak economic data dampened the sentiments in the markets. The government data showed that the output of eight core infrastructure sectors grew 3.3 per cent in August -- the lowest in nine months -- as against 12.2 per cent in the year-ago period. The latest data on public debt showed that the total liabilities of the government increased to Rs 145.72 lakh crore at the end-June 2022 from Rs 139.58 lakh crore at end-March 2022. More pessimism came as foreign investors turned sellers again in September and pulled out over Rs 7,600 crore from the Indian equity markets amid hawkish stance by the US Fed and sharp depreciation in rupee. Market participants overlooked a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stating that the retail inflation may come down to 5.2% in the next fiscal beginning April 2023. Meanwhile, the finance ministry said GST collections remained above Rs 1.40 lakh crore for the seventh month in a row at Rs 1.47 lakh crore in September, a 26 per cent increase over last year, reflecting buoyancy in tax collection and stability of the GST portal. Investors are eyeing manufacturing PMI data to be out later in the day.

Following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, most of the Asian markets are trading lower reflecting lingering concerns about a recession and the global economic outlook amid aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks around the world. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.8. Meanwhile, South Korea market is closed in observance of National Day and China markets are closed for the Golden Week holiday until October 10.

Back home, auto industry stocks were trading under pressure as Federation of Automotive Dealers Associations said the hike in key interest rate by RBI is a big dampener for the automobile industry particularly for the price sensitive entry-level two-wheelers and passenger vehicles segments. However, telecom stocks were trading higher after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 5G services in India. In stock specific development, ONGC soared after the government hiked prices of natural gas by 40 per cent. Also HFCL gained on announcing launch of 5G radio units.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57042.10, down by 384.82 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 56988.88 and 57454.84. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.04%, Telecom up by 0.97%, Energy up by 0.89%, Healthcare up by 0.86%, PSU up by 0.42%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.31%, IT down by 0.92%, Metal down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.85%, Auto down by 0.77% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.78%, Sun Pharma up by 0.57%, Reliance Industries up by 0.34%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.26% and Power Grid up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.72%, Titan Company down by 1.56%, Asian Paints down by 1.45%, Infosys down by 1.43% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest data has showed that India's unemployment rate drastically dropped to 6.43% in September due to an increase in labour participation in the rural and urban areas. During August, India's unemployment rate surged to a one-year high of 8.3% as employment sequentially fell by 2 million to 394.6 million.

As per the data, the unemployment rate in the rural areas fell to 5.84% in September from 7.68% in August, while in the urban areas it dropped to 7.7% against 9.57% in the previous month. CMIE managing director Mahesh Vyas said the almost-8 million increase in labour participation is a sign that the economy of the country is doing well.

The data showed the unemployment rate was the highest in Rajasthan at 23.8% in September, followed by Jammu and Kashmir at 23.2%, Haryana at 22.9%, Tripura at 17%, Jharkhand at 12.2% and Bihar at 11.4%. Unemployment was the lowest in Chhattisgarh at 0.1% in September, followed by Assam at 0.4%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16991.30, down by 103.05 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 16974.65 and 17114.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.13%, NTPC up by 2.13%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.47%, Coal India up by 1.34% and Divi's Lab up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.42%, Titan Company down by 1.76%, Infosys down by 1.57%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.56% and Asian Paints down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times fell 12.45 points or 0.40% to 3,117.79, Hang Seng slipped 200.12 points or 1.16% to 17,022.71, Taiwan Weighted declined 83.85 points or 0.62% to 13,340.73 and Jakarta Composite was down by 18.92 points or 0.27% to 7,021.88, while Nikkei 225 rose 153.35 points or 0.59% to 26,090.56.