Benchmarks continue to trade marginally in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in red in morning deals, due to losses in Metal, FMCG and IT stocks. Investors also reacted to mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials on the path of rate increases going ahead. However, losses remain capped as traders took some support with private report stated that India's retail inflation to track within the Reserve Bank of India's target band by March 2023. It expects inflation to moderate in FY24 as the effect of higher commodity prices wears off in YoY terms and supply chains continue to normalize. Further, as it expects a rise in capex in FY24, it expect this higher capacity to help cap further rise in core inflation pressures in FY25. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth Rs 1,089.41 crore on November 14, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders continue to be optimistic about the US Fed slowing the pace of interest rate hikes following recent tamer-than-expected US inflation data. Back home, Edible oil industry stocks remained in limelight as industry body SEA said India’s edible oil import bill rose 34.18 per cent to Rs 1.57 lakh crore in the oil year ending October 2022, while in volume terms it rose 6.85 per cent to 140.3 lakh tone.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61511.93, down by 112.22 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 61439.56 and 61783.00. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.82%, Telecom up by 0.36%, Bankex up by 0.24%, Power up by 0.24% and Utilities up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.25%, FMCG down by 0.73%, IT down by 0.52%, Energy down by 0.50% and Realty down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 1.71%, ICICI Bank up by 1.48%, SBI up by 1.01%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.01% and NTPC up by 0.96%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.90%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.17%, Sun Pharma down by 1.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.94% and TCS down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said inflation in India is less as compared to the US, the UK and other countries. Singh also claimed that the country's economy is progressing rapidly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He mentioned ‘Inflation in India is less as compared to America (US), Britain and other countries. Our economy is currently at the fifth position, which will rise to third place in the coming times.’ Besides, he said, 'PM Modi says 'Make in India' and also make for the world. Work pertaining to the manufacturing of BrahMos missile unit in Lucknow is being carried out on a fast track mode and Rs 385 crore has been approved for the project recently.'

BrahMos manufacturing is part of India's defence export plans and the country earlier this year signed a $375 million deal to export the supersonic cruise missile to the Philippines. According to Singh, exports in the defence sector have risen from Rs 900 crore in 2014 to Rs 18,000 crore this year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18299.75, down by 29.40 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 18282.70 and 18378.15. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.37%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.09%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.69%, ICICI Bank up by 1.45% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 5.08%, ITC down by 1.89%, Grasim Industries down by 1.59%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.15% and Sun Pharma down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 637.98 points or 3.62% to 18,257.69, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 356.53 points or 2.52% to 14,531.43, Nikkei 225 surged 54.10 points or 0.19% to 28,017.57, Shanghai Composite gained 39.18 points or 1.27% to 3,122.58 and Straits Times advanced 13.24 points or 0.41% to 3,274.04.

On the flip side; Jakarta Composite lost 1.59 points or 0.02% to 7,017.80 and KOSPI fell 2.30 points or 0.09% to 2,472.35.