Key gauges settle flat amid volatility

Indian equity benchmarks traded with volatility throughout the day and ended almost on a flat note on Friday amidst weak global cues and rising crude prices. After making cautious start, key gauges traded marginally lower in early deals as traders were cornered with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the ongoing global uncertainty and recessionary trends could have some implications on India's exports. Some concern also came as the Centre said some states have pulled out of the flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for failure to pay their share of premium subsidy owing to financial constraints. It said it was willing to make additional pro-farmer changes to the scheme in response to the climate crisis. Some pessimism also came amid reports that the rupee is likely to remain under pressure next year and could even touch 85 against the US dollar. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and the resultant spike in crude prices and supply chain disruptions, the rupee has been under tremendous pressure. The domestic currency had touched an all-time low of 83 against the dollar on October 19.

However, markets erased initial losses and managed to end marginally in green, as Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran expressed hope that the economy will maintain the trend growth rate of 6.5 per cent and above for the rest of the years in the current decade. He added the economy will close the current fiscal logging in a growth of 6.5-7%. Some support also came as the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that India’s urban unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in urban areas dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter in the July-September period of 2022-23 (FY23) to 7.2% from 9.8% a year ago. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,231.98 crore on November 24, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

On the global front, Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday, while European markets were trading mostly in red as traders largely refrained from making significant moves amid a lack of fresh triggers with the U.S. market remaining closed for Thanksgiving Day. Traders were also concerned about the surge in COVID cases in China weighing on global growth.

Back home, stocks related to steel industry remained in focus as Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste said duty-related measures taken by the government will boost the business sentiments of the domestic steel industry. Six months after the imposition of the export duty on May 21, the government has removed the levy on steel items to nil with effect from November 19, 2022. Besides, Hospitality industry stocks were in watch as representatives from Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sought granting of infrastructure status to the hospitality industry in the forthcoming Budget.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 20.96 points or 0.03% to 62,293.64 and the CNX Nifty was up by 28.65 points or 0.15% to 18,512.75.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 62,447.73 and 62,115.66, respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.77%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.08%, Auto up by 0.87%, Energy up by 0.84%, Oil & Gas up by 0.69% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.67%, while Bankex down by 0.33%, Power down by 0.31%, FMCG down by 0.19% and Financial Services down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.34%, Wipro up by 1.16%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.01%, Axis Bank up by 0.98% and Indusind Bank up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.30%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.95%, ICICI Bank down by 0.87%, Titan Company down by 0.58% and HDFC Bank down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has expressed hope that the Indian economy will maintain the trend growth rate of 6.5 per cent and above for the rest of the years in the current decade. He said the economy will close the current fiscal logging in a growth of 6.5-7 per cent, citing the projections of private sector analysts, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and international agencies like OECD and the IMF.

He mentioned ‘This appears to be reasonable at this point in time although we will get the data on the fiscal second quarter in a few days, which will give more clarity on these numbers. By and large, the projections for FY24 coming from international agencies is converging around 6-6.2 per cent.’

Besides, citing the high credit growth which peaked at 18 per cent in October, he said the prospects for the capex cycle return is imminent in the medium term. He based his optimism on a slew of factors like rising capital formation by way of better and healthier balance-sheets of the banking sector, highly deleveraged corporate sector and the capacity utilisation levels reaching the levels which in the past had triggered capex. According to him, the private sector capex in the first half of the current fiscal has already crossed the Rs 3 lakh crore-mark and if the pace continues, 'we should be looking at Rs 6 lakh crore for this year'.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 18,534.90 and 18,445.10. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.68%, Tata Motors up by 2.61%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.43%, Coal India up by 1.36% and Reliance Industries up by 1.30%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 0.94%, Nestle down by 0.91%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.83%, Titan Company down by 0.73% and Britannia Industries down by 0.62% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC decreased 18.00 points or 0.27% to 6,689.32 and Germany’s DAX was down by 32.04 points or 0.22% to 14,507.52. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 11.06 points or 0.15% to 7,477.66.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Friday on account of concerns over worsening Covid-19 situation in China along with subdued trading after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Japanese shares fell after data showed inflation in Tokyo picked up more speed to hit its fastest pace in 40 years. But Japan’s Nikkei average gained for the week after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s November meeting indicated that the central bank was considering a slower pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months. Chinese shares rose, boosted by property developers after China's biggest commercial banks pledged at least $162 billion in fresh credit to the beleaguered sector.