Markets remain under pressure amid mixed cues from global markets

Indian equity markets remained under pressure in late morning deals amid mixed cues from global markets.  Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 14 paise to 81.42 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. Some cautiousness also prevailed in the markets as World Bank in its latest report said that India will need to invest $840 billion over the next 15 years to upgrade its urban infrastructure if it is to effectively meet the needs of its fast-growing population in cities. However, downside remained capped as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said inflation in India is less as compared to the US, the UK and other countries. There were some buzz in auto component industry stocks as credit ratings agency ICRA in a report said auto component suppliers are expected to log an 8-10 per cent growth in revenue this fiscal driven by healthy domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and pent-up demand from the aftermarket even as headwinds persist on the exports front.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green as traders continued to be optimistic about the US Fed slowing the pace of interest rate hikes following recent tamer-than-expected US inflation data. Back home, in stock specific development, NDTV jumped after market regulator SEBI paved the way for billionaire Gautam Adani to take control of the media firm.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61503.48, down by 120.67 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 61436.90 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 was down by 0.12%, while Small cap index down by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.54%, Utilities up by 0.37%, Telecom up by 0.31% and Power up by 0.27%, while Metal down by 1.27%, Realty down by 0.89%, IT down by 0.66%, Energy down by 0.61% and Capital Goods down by 0.54% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.07%, ICICI Bank up by 1.30%, Titan Co up by 1.20%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.00% and NTPC up by 0.93%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.47%, TCS down by 1.06%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.04%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.90% and Sun Pharma down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that auto component suppliers are expected to log an 8-10 per cent growth in revenue this fiscal (FY23) driven by healthy domestic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and pent-up demand from the aftermarket even as headwinds persist on the exports front. It said the export orders have slowed down in the last few months, impacted by inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, and supply-chain issues.

According to the report, domestic original equipment manufacturer demand constitutes almost 50 per cent of sales for the Indian auto component industry. This is likely to remain healthy in FY2023, with double-digit growth expected in both passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle segments. Further, it said demand for public and private transport is expected to remain healthy with an increase in mobility, supported partly by the reopening of schools and offices. This, along with steady freight movement, is likely to aid replacement volumes in the near-term, among other factors.

Furthermore, the report stated that select companies have also started witnessing a healthy ramp-up in revenues with a steadily rising share of EVs where content per vehicle is expected to rise considerably, and added that these trends will translate into healthy growth for auto component suppliers over the medium-to-long term. However, it said certain headwinds will persist, especially for companies with a high share of imports (owing to rupee depreciation vis-a-vis USD) and elevated cost of raw materials linked to crude oil derivatives.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18298.10, down by 31.05 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 18282.00 and 18378.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.48%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.13%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.11%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.85% and ICICI Bank up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 5.76%, Grasim Industries down by 1.60%, ITC down by 1.43%, Cipla down by 1.20% and TCS down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 588.24 points or 3.34% to 18,207.95, Shanghai Composite gained 41.66 points or 1.35% to 3,125.06, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 371.41 points or 2.62% to 14,546.31, Straits Times advanced 17.13 points or 0.53% to 3,277.93 and Nikkei 225 surged 35.93 points or 0.13% to 27,999.40. However, KOSPI fell 1.32 points or 0.05% to 2,473.33 and Jakarta Composite lost 1.59 points or 0.02% to 7,017.80.