Key gauges trade marginally in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains to trade marginally in red in morning deals as investors awaited inflation data, due later in the day, for clues on the central bank's interest rate trajectory and ahead of a slew of corporate earnings reports. Traders remained cautious 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. However, losses remain capped as some support came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world and is expected to be one of the top three economic powers globally over the next 10-15 years. Besides, the tax department said gross collection of tax on corporate and individual earnings jumped nearly 31 per cent so far in the current fiscal year to Rs 10.54 lakh crore.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green 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, stocks related to logistics sector remained in watch as Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said India's economy will not be strong unless the logistics system is improved, so the government is speeding up infrastructure projects.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61638.08, down by 156.96 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 61617.67 and 61916.24. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.58%, IT up by 0.45%, Auto up by 0.37%, Realty up by 0.35% and Energy up by 0.13%, while Telecom down by 0.78%, Capital Goods down by 0.63%, Industrials down by 0.31%, Consumer Durables down by 0.29% and Power down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.30%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.05%, NTPC up by 0.96%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.92% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 4.43%, ICICI Bank down by 1.31%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.83%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.72% and ITC down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has exuded confidence that India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy with a likely growth rate of 7 per cent in current financial year (FY23) on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and financial sector stability. He emphasised that the country's economy remains resilient, supported by the banking and non-banking sectors.

He stated the entire world has withstood multiple shocks. ‘I call it triple shocks of COVID-19 pandemic, then the war in Ukraine, and now the financial market turmoil.’ He mentioned that the financial market turmoil is mainly emanating from the synchronised monetary policy tightening across the world by central banks, especially those in advanced countries, led by the US Fed, and the spillovers are being felt by the emerging market economies, including India.

Further, he said in this kind of successive turmoils, European Union is facing a recession situation, but there are possibilities that it will avoid that. The US is holding stable, but there are other countries where the growth has slowed down. He added so far as India is concerned, economy, overall macroeconomic fundamentals, the financial sector stability, all these aspects remain resilient. The banking sector that is the financial sector is stable because of all the parameters with regard to banking or the non-banking lenders or the other major financial sector players.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18342.50, down by 7.20 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 18327.20 and 18399.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.68%, Tata Motors up by 2.98%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.73%, Grasim Industries up by 1.90% and Tata Steel up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 4.32%, ICICI Bank down by 1.23%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.14%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.92% and ITC down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 505.98 points or 2.92% to 17,831.64, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 179.70 points or 1.28% to 14,187.26, Straits Times advanced 47.16 points or 1.46% to 3,275.49, Shanghai Composite gained 23.13 points or 0.75% to 3,110.42 and KOSPI rose 1.79 points or 0.07% to 2,484.95.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 45.74 points or 0.65% to 7,043.47 and Nikkei 225 slipped 221.16 points or 0.78% to 28,042.41.