Indices end with minor gains on Wednesday

Indian equity benchmarks ended with minor gains on Wednesday, supported by buying in Oil & Gas, Banking and Metal stocks, and positive cues from global peers, while investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's November policy meeting minutes. Key gauges made positive start and stayed in green for whole day as traders took some support with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) latest Economic Outlook report stating that India, with a growth rate of 6.6 per cent in this financial year, is set to be the second-fastest growing economy in the G20 in FY 2022-23 behind Saudi Arabia, despite decelerating global demand and the tightening of monetary policy to manage inflationary pressures. Some optimism also came after Moody's Investors Service said the trend of gradual fiscal consolidation remains intact for India and going forward the country will see strong revenue performance and debt stablisation.

Indices added gains in late afternoon deals, taking support from commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK is a high priority for both the countries and the next round of negotiations for the pact is slated to happen next month. Some support also came as highlighting the Centre's efforts in creating employment opportunities, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that about 16 lakh jobs are being generated every month by the central government. However, in the last leg of the trade, key gauges erased some gains to end marginally higher as traders got anxious with provisional data available on the NSE showed foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 697.83 crore on November 22, 2022.

On the global front, Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday despite lingering worries about the Chinese economy and ahead the release of latest Fed meeting minutes later in the day. Regional gains were capped by rising COVID-19 infections in China and a record interest-rate hike in New Zealand.  European markets were trading mostly in green even as business activity fell across the eurozone for the fifth consecutive month in November, adding to fears of a recession.

Back home, telecom stocks were in focus as telecom regulator's data showed that India's total mobile subscriber base fell by 3.6 million in September, with Vodafone Idea suffering subscriber count decline even as larger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added users month-on-month. Stocks related to airline sector were in watch as Data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed that Indian airlines carried 1.14 crore passengers in October, 10 per cent higher than the number of people flown in September. It said domestic air traffic jumped nearly 27 per cent to 114.07 lakh in October compared to the year-ago period when it was 89.85 lakh. 

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 91.62 points or 0.15% to 61,510.58 and the CNX Nifty was up by 23.05 points or 0.13% to 18,267.25.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 61,780.90 and 61,442.69, respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.54%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.68%, Bankex up by 0.67%, Metal up by 0.65%, Energy up by 0.53% and Financial Services up by 0.53%, while Capital Goods down by 0.28%, TECK down by 0.19%, Consumer Durables down by 0.19%, IT down by 0.08% and FMCG down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.44%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.41%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.31%, Sun Pharma up by 0.76% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.24%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.66%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.54%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.48% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Paris-based intergovernmental body, it its latest report has said that India, with a growth rate of 6.6 per cent in this financial year, is among the fastest growing economies in Asia amid a global slowdown triggered by a massive energy shock due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It stated that India is set to be the second-fastest growing economy in the G20 in FY 2022-23 behind Saudi Arabia, despite decelerating global demand and the tightening of monetary policy to manage inflationary pressures. Further, it said the GDP growth in the country will slow to 5.7 per cent in FY 2023-24 as exports and domestic demand growth moderate, but it would mean it would still be growing more than many other G20 economies including China and Saudi Arabia.

It mentioned after hitting 6.6 per cent in FY 2022-23, GDP growth is expected to slow in coming quarters, to 5.7 per cent in FY 2023-24, before reverting to around 7 per cent in FY 2024-25. Besides, it said growth in 2023 is strongly dependent on the major Asian emerging market economies, who will account for close to three-quarters of global GDP growth next year, with the United States and Europe decelerating sharply.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,325.40 and 18,246.00. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 3.14%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.49%, JSW Steel up by 1.45%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.35% and SBI up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.40%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.41%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.23%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.10% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.74% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 31.40 points or 0.42% to 7,484.24, France’s CAC rose 3.69 points or 0.06% to 6,661.22, while Germany’s DAX decreased 11.59 points or 0.08% to 14,410.76.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday tracking overnight rally in US stocks ahead the release of the November Fed meeting minutes later in the day. Chinese shares rose even as Covid cases in mainland China surged toward record highs. Hong Kong shares gained even after Warren Buffet's investment Company Berkshire Hathaway further trimmed its stake in the electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$630.33 million ($80.67 million). Meanwhile, trading volumes were somewhat thin amid a national holiday in Japan. However, some gains were capped by lingering worries about the Chinese economy and a record interest rate hike in New Zealand.