Domestic equity indices trade in fine-fettle in early deals

Domestic equity indices made positive start on Friday as a firmer rupee and falling oil prices. Markets are trading in fine-fettle with gains of around half a percent each in early deals as buying in FIIs aided domestic sentiments. As per provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth Rs 2,818.40 crore on October 27. Some support also came in with a private report that Indian economy’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the pace of the economy is better as compared to global peers despite headwinds such as high inflation, monetary policy tightening, rising interest rate, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Traders took note of another private report that India can accelerate green investments to $12.1 trillion by 2050 and reap a host of benefits.

Most of the Asian markets are trading in red with traders remaining cautious as concerns about the outlook for interest rates and a global recession continue following the release of a mixed batch of U.S. economic data. The situation in Chinese cities that doubled up on Covid restrictions to arrest widening outbreaks also weighed on market sentiment. Back home, fertilizer industry stocks were in focus as rating agency CRISIL said that the government's fertilizer subsidy bill could increase by Rs 40,000 crore this financial year from the already-announced allocation of Rs 2.15 lakh crore because of the continued surge in the prices of the key raw material - natural gas -- for manufacturing urea. In stock specific development, Texmaco Rail and Engineering advanced as it bagged Rs 252.88 crore contract to supply standard gauge ballastless track for the Indore Metro Rail project.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60053.25, up by 296.41 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 59746.80 and 60071.11. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.53%, Oil & Gas up by 1.36%, PSU up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.55%, Industrials up by 0.29%, while Metal down by 0.75%, Realty down by 0.32%, Telecom down by 0.20%, Healthcare down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.82%, NTPC up by 1.79%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.38%, HDFC up by 0.94% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.67%, Tata Steel down by 1.34%, ICICI Bank down by 0.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.19% and SBI down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, clarifying tariff benefit under India-UAE trade deal, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said that electronically generated certificate of origin (CoO) issued by the UAE authority is a valid document for claiming customs duty benefits under India-UAE free trade agreement (FTA). However, it said that the certificate has to be issued in a prescribed format bearing electronically printed seal and signatures of the authorised signatory of the issuing authority.

The trade agreement between India and the UAE came into force from May 1 this year. Under this, domestic exporters of over 6,000 goods from sectors like textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gem and jewellery get duty-free access to the UAE market. On the other hand, India gives duty-free access to 7,694 goods coming from the UAE. A trader has to submit a 'certificate of origin' at the landing port of the importing country to claim duty concessions under free-trade agreements. This certificate is essential to prove where their goods come from.

The CBIC said that representations have been received with regard to India-UAE trade deal stating that the importers are facing difficulties in availing preferential tariff benefit on the basis of e-CoO issued by the issuing authority of AUE. The agreement already has provisions for the same. It said that the specimen seals and signatures, circulated in advance, will continue to be used to verify the genuineness/authenticity of the e-certificate.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17814.90, up by 77.95 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 17746.65 and 17823.45. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.57%, ONGC up by 2.39%, NTPC up by 1.88%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.78% and Reliance Industries up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.72%, JSW Steel down by 1.45%, Tata Steel down by 1.39%, Hindalco down by 1.30% and Divi's Lab down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 lost 123.55 points or 0.45% to 27,221.69, Hang Seng slipped 345.89 points or 2.24% to 15,082.05, Taiwan Weighted plunged 103.50 points or 0.80% to 12,822.87, KOSPI fell 8.23 points or 0.36% to 2,280.55, Jakarta Composite declined 40.98 points or 0.58% to 7,050.78 and Shanghai Composite was down by 24.65 points or 0.83% to 2,958.25, while Straits Times was up by 52.69 points or 1.75% to 3,067.93.