Benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in morning deals, tracking weakness across global markets. Sentiments remained weak as a private report said that India's GDP growth will slow down to 5.5 per cent in FY24 from the 6.9 per cent expected in the current fiscal 2022-23. The slowdown was attributed to slowing global growth and tightening of monetary policies. It said India will be among the lesser affected economies in the world, but made it clear that the world's fifth largest economy is not immune from global headwinds. Traders paid no heed towards private report stated that with an average gross domestic product growth of 5.5 per cent in the past decade, India is already the fastest-growing economy in the world. It added that India is expected to overtake Japan and Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027. India is also gaining power in the world order. Meanwhile, the Government has allowed international trade settlements in the Indian rupee for export promotion schemes under foreign trade policy (FTP).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as traders were cautious ahead of release of the crucial U.S. inflation data later in the day, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rate hikes. Back home, stocks related to tourism sector remained in watch as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Rakesh Verma said the tourism sector was hugely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has 'bounced back' from various adversities and crises with 'great resilience.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60597.73, down by 435.82 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 60511.99 and 60848.73. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.63%, while Small cap index was down by 0.51%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Telecom up by 0.32%, while Auto down by 1.68%, Consumer Durables down by 1.48%, Bankex down by 0.73%, Capital Goods down by 0.69% and Industrials down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.79%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.79%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.76%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.48% and HCL Technologies up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.94%, Axis Bank down by 2.70%, Titan Company down by 2.41%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.61% and ITC down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest data has said that the overall retail sales of electric vehicles (EVs), including passenger vehicles, in the country surged nearly 185 per cent year-on-year to 1,11,971 units in October 2022. EV sales stood at 39,329 units in October 2021.

As per the data, the total passenger EV (PEVs) sales rose 178 per cent to 3,745 units in October 2022 as against 1,346 PEVs retailed in the same month a year ago. Electric commercial vehicle sales grew 125.64 per cent to 274 units.

It further stated that electric two-wheeler sales in October 2022 stood at 73,169 units as compared to 19,826 units in the same month of 2021, registering a year-on-year growth of 269.06 per cent. Electric three-wheeler sales jumped 92.87 per cent to 34,793 units as against 18,040 units in October 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18035.85, down by 121.15 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 18010.80 and 18103.10. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.64%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.30%, ONGC up by 1.26%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.94% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 4.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.98%, Axis Bank down by 2.66%, Titan Company down by 2.36% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted dropped 151.14 points or 1.11% to 13,487.67, KOSPI fell 12.64 points or 0.52% to 2,411.77, Jakarta Composite lost 98.66 points or 1.4% to 6,971.42, Shanghai Composite declined 16.05 points or 0.53% to 3,032.12, Nikkei 225 slipped 281.61 points or 1.02% to 27,434.82 and Hang Seng decreased 304.81 points or 1.86% to 16,053.71. However, Straits Times advanced 10.62 points or 0.34% to 3,176.12.