Benchmarks trade flat with positive bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Monday despite mostly positive cues from Asian counterparts. Markets are trading flat with positive bias in early deals as buying in Metal, IT and Auto stocks supporting domestic indices whereas selling in Telecom, Utilities and Power stocks kept the gains in check. Some support came in as Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das exuded confidence that India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy with a likely growth rate of 7% in 2022-23 on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and financial sector stability. Data showing growth in industrial production also aided domestic sentiments. The government data showed that India's industrial production expanded by 3.1% in September. Besides, Indian rupee opened 28 paise higher at 80.53 per dollar on Monday against Friday's close of 80.81. Though, some cautiousness came as latest data released by the central bank showed that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.1 billion to $529.99 billion in the week ended November 4. Meanwhile, investors are eyeing the October's retail and wholesale inflation data set to be out later in the day.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading higher following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street on Friday, on continued optimism about the US Fed slowing the pace of interest rate hikes following recent tamer-than-expected US inflation data. Back home, airlines industry stocks were trading under pressure after credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report said that the domestic airlines industry is projected to post a loss of Rs 15,000-17,000 crore in the current fiscal as their financial performance is likely to remain under pressure in the near term. In stock specific development, LIC rallied after the company posted 11 times higher profit in Q2 over the last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61811.76, up by 16.72 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 61688.96 and 61916.24. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.62%, IT up by 0.54%, Auto up by 0.48%, Energy up by 0.39%, Realty up by 0.34%, while Telecom down by 0.41%, Utilities down by 0.37%, Power down by 0.35%, Capital Goods down by 0.17%, PSU down by 0.14% were the toplosing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.21%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.95%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.91%, Asian Paints up by 0.69% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 3.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.76%, ITC down by 0.55%, Power Grid down by 0.47% and SBI down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s industrial production, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), expanded by 3.1 per cent in September 2022, boosted by manufacturing, mining and power sectors. It had expanded by 4.4 per cent in September 2021. Factory output had contracted by 0.7 per cent in the preceding month (August 2022). It grew by 2.2 per cent in July this year. The data released by the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry showed that for the month of September 2022, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stood at 133.5. During April-September this year, IIP rose 7 per cent against 23.8 per cent expansion in the same period of 2021-22.

As per the data, the manufacturing sector grew by 1.8 per cent in September 2022, compared to 4.3 per cent growth recorded in the year-ago period. The power sector showed a growth of 11.6 per cent against a 0.9 per cent rise a year ago. The mining sector also witnessed a growth of 4.6 per cent in September 2022 compared to 8.6 per cent in the year-ago month. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of September 2022 stood at 99.5, 134.3 and 187.4 respectively.

Capital goods output, which is a barometer of investments, rose 10.3 per cent in September 2022 compared to 3.3 per cent growth in the corresponding month of the previous year. The consumer durables segment declined 4.5 per cent from 1.6 per cent growth earlier. The primary goods segment, which accounts for nearly 34 per cent of the index, expanded 9.3 per cent in September compared to 4.6 per cent growth in the year-ago period.

As per Use-based classification, the indices stood at 128.2 for Primary Goods, 102.9 for Capital Goods, 145.8 for Intermediate Goods and 155.8 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of September 2022. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 125.1 and 136.9 respectively for the month of September 2022. Meanwhile, the ministry said the growth rates over the corresponding period of the previous year are to be interpreted considering the unusual circumstances on account of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18367.85, up by 18.15 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 18337.85 and 18399.45. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.89%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.70%, Tata Motors up by 1.77%, UPL up by 1.32% and Tata Steel up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 4.26%, ICICI Bank down by 0.90%, ITC down by 0.55%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.47% and Power Grid down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 47.10 points or 1.46% to 3,275.43, Hang Seng surged 508.12 points or 2.93% to 17,833.78, Taiwan Weighted jumped 202.23 points or 1.44% to 14,209.79, KOSPI added 4.98 points or 0.20% to 2,488.14 and Shanghai Composite was up by 23.13 points or 0.75% to 3,110.42. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 fell 240.21 points or 0.85% to 28,023.36 and Jakarta Composite was down by 31.82 points or 0.45% to 7,057.39.