Markets trade marginally in green in early deals

Indian equity markets have made cautions start amid weak cues from US markets overnight as hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell dashed hopes around easing of monetary tightening from December. However, markets are trading marginally higher in early deals on Friday on the back of fresh buying by funds and retail investors. Sentiments got some support as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India offers policy stability, transparency and consultative process of governance to incubate investment. Further, some support also come in as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said loans worth Rs 20 lakh crore have been disbursed so far under the Centre’s MUDRA scheme to provide self-employment opportunities to the youth, and added that Maharashtra was one of its major beneficiaries.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, despite the negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by sharp rise for stocks in Hong Kong and China, even as traders continue to digest the fourth straight 75-basis point interest rate hike by the US Fed, and the hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that signaled more interest rate hikes in the coming months. The US markets ended lower on Thursday as Treasury yields again rose to multiyear highs amid investors looked ahead to a closely watched job market report from the government that could influence the Federal Reserve’s next move in its fight to bring down inflation.

Back home, there were some buzz in coal related stocks as the Union Ministry of Coal launched a new round of coal mine auction for commercial purposes with the largest-ever basket of 141 mines. Of this, 71 are new mines, 62 from earlier tranches of commercial auctions, and eight being offered as a second attempt of the last round of commercial auctions that did not receive bids. On the stock specific development, Amara Raja Batteries soared after the company reported strong September quarter (Q2FY23) results with profit before tax (PBT) up 43 per cent at Rs 276.52 crore over the previous year quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60946.44, up by 110.03 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 60697.16 and 60989.41. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11%, while Small cap index up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.23%, PSU up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.56%, Capital Goods up by 0.54% and Bankex up by 0.50%, while IT down by 0.84%, TECK down by 0.75%, Healthcare down by 0.33%, Oil & Gas down by 0.20% and Consumer Durables down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.56%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.00%, SBI up by 0.82% and Axis Bank up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.11%, TCS down by 1.03%, HCL Tech. down by 0.94%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.87% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has said India is working sincerely with the UK for finalisation of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak agreed on the early conclusion of the deal.

Bagchi stated ‘As we have said earlier, the matter of negotiations is best left to the trade ministers and their teams of officials. I cannot comment on the status. I certainly do not have any target date.’ The issue of the FTA figured in the first telephonic conversation between the two prime ministers on October 27.

In April, the two sides had set a Diwali deadline for concluding the FTA but the deal could not be finalised in view of differences over certain issues. It is learnt that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly took stock of the ongoing negotiations for the FTA during their talks last week.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18084.25, up by 31.55 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 18046.85 and 18108.00. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.49%, JSW Steel up by 1.51%, Hindalco up by 1.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.18% and Tata Steel up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.75%, Infosys down by 1.25%, Divi's Lab down by 1.22%, TCS down by 1.01% and HCL Tech. down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 863.48 points or 5.63% to 16,202.97, KOSPI rose 4.73 points or 0.2% to 2,333.90, Straits Times advanced 8.03 points or 0.26% to 3,110.54 and Shanghai Composite gained 62.58 points or 2.09% to 3,060.39.  However, Nikkei 225 slipped 540.32 points or 1.95% to 27,123.07, Taiwan Weighted dropped 25.50 points or 0.2% to 12,961.10 and Jakarta Composite lost 47.86 points or 0.68% to 6,986.71.