Markets manage to trade above water in late afternoon session

In volatile trading session, Indian equity markets managed to trade above water in late afternoon session helped by gains across index-heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki and Power Grid. However, the broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading in red. Traders took support after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he and his British counterpart agreed on “the importance of early conclusion of a comprehensive and balanced” free trade agreement (FTA). Traders took note of report that RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Shashanka Bhide said that the high inflation rate in the last three quarters is mainly a consequence of the exogenous price shocks, and addressing the issue will require coordinated policy effort, monetary policy and other economic policies.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red and European markets were trading lower as investors digested the monetary policy announcements from the ECB and BoJ and looked ahead to next week's FOMC meeting for clues on whether a pivot on the pace of rate hikes is on the table.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59813.54, up by 56.70 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 59739.05 and 60133.17. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.63%, while Small cap index was down by 0.68%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.95%, Auto up by 0.82%, Oil & Gas up by 0.47% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.02%,while Metal down by 1.69%, Bankex down by 0.86%, IT down by 0.85%, Telecom down by 0.84% and Realty was down by 0.82% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.73%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.08%, Power Grid up by 1.47%, NTPC up by 1.44% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.78%, ICICI Bank down by 2.29%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.12%, Sun Pharma down by 1.84% and Axis Bank down by 1.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook has said that India is likely to see the world's biggest rise in energy demand this decade, with demand climbing 3 per cent annually due to urbanization and industrialization. While the push for renewable energy will see it meeting as much as 60 per cent of the growth in demand for power, coal will continue to meet a third of overall energy demand by 2030 and another quarter will be met by oil.    

India becomes the world's most populous country by 2025 and, combined with the twin forces of urbanization and industrialization, this underpins rapid growth in energy demand, which rises by more than 3 per cent per year in the Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) from 2021 to 2030. It sees the largest increase in energy demand of any country. Even though India continues to make great strides with renewables deployment and efficiency policies, the sheer scale of its development means that the combined import bill for fossil fuels doubles over the next two decades, with oil by far the largest component. This points to continued risks to energy security.

The world is in the midst of the first global energy crisis, triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Pressures in markets predated Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but Russia's actions have turned a rapid economic recovery from the pandemic -- which strained all manner of global supply chains, including energy -- into full-blown energy turmoil. Russia has been by far the world's largest exporter of fossil fuels, but its curtailments of natural gas supply to Europe and European sanctions on imports of oil and coal from Russia are severing one of the main arteries of global energy trade. All fuels are affected, but gas markets are the epicentre as Russia seeks leverage by exposing consumers to higher energy bills and supply shortages.   

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17744.05, up by 7.10 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 17723.70 and 17838.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 2.82%, Reliance Industries up by 2.64%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.55%, ONGC up by 1.78% and NTPC up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.74%, Grasim Industries down by 2.40%, ICICI Bank down by 2.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.21% and Hindalco down by 2.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 564.88 points or 3.66% to 14,863.06, Nikkei 225 slipped 240.04 points or 0.88% to 27,105.20, Taiwan Weighted dropped 137.95 points or 1.07% to 12,788.42, Shanghai Composite declined 66.97 points or 2.25% to 2,915.93, Jakarta Composite lost 35.72 points or 0.5% to 7,056.04 and KOSPI was down by 20.38 points or 0.89% to 2,268.40. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 46.40 points or 1.54% to 3,061.64.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 51.05 points or 0.72% to 7,022.64, France’s CAC decreased 37.02 points or 0.59% to 6,207.01 and Germany’s DAX was down by 130.44 points or 0.99% to 13,080.79.