Bourses off from day’s highs in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets off from day’s highs in late afternoon session on profit booking. As for broader indices, Small cap index remained in green, while BSE Mid cap index continued to trade in red. Gains got restricted after SBI Research in its latest report has expressed cautiousness over India’s economic situation and pencilled the country's GDP growth for the second quarter (Q2) at 5.8 per cent, down 30 basis points from average estimates citing a weak manufacturing sector coupled with the steep margin compression. However, healthy buying in FMCG counters mainly helped markets to trade in green. Traders took note of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reiterated the UK’s commitment to a free trade agreement (FTA) with India as part of the country’s wider focus on enhancing ties with the Indo-Pacific region and standing up to competitors with “robust pragmatism.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green with mainland China and Hong Kong markets leading the surge, as China reported a slight dip in new COVID-19 infections and China reopening rumors swirled ahead of a press conference later in the day on COVID prevention and control measures. European markets were trading higher as investors continued to monitor news from China over Covid restrictions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62,755.94, up by 251.14 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 62362.08 and 62887.40. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.19%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.77%, Metal up by 1.02%, Utilities up by 0.54%, Healthcare up by 0.51% and  IT was up by 0.49%, while Telecom down by 0.63%, Capital Goods down by 0.31%, Industrials down by 0.22% and Auto was down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 3.60%, Tata Steel up by 1.72%, Nestle up by 1.42%, ICICI Bank up by 1.39% and HCL Tech up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.07%, Indusind Bank down by 1.04%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.73%, Power Grid down by 0.65% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report ‘Data on ECB/FCCB’ has showed that Indian companies raised $1.43 billion ($1,42,99,20,622) through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in for the month of October 2022.  Last month, Indian companies raised $930.50 million ($930503762) through the automatic route and $499.42 million ($499416859.9) through the approval route.

As per the RBI data report, Indian Oil Corporation was the largest borrower among all companies that raised $300.00 million through the automatic route in October 2022, followed by Rohan Corporation India ($100.00 million) and Dupont Specialty Products India ($58.94 million).

The Reserve Bank of India’s report further showed that there were only two companies through the approval route in October 2022 i.e. REC and Export-Import Bank of India that raised $399.42 million and $100 million, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18,642.60, up by 79.85 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 18552.15 and 18678.10. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 3.53%, JSW Steel up by 2.23%, Hindalco up by 1.77%, Britannia up by 1.69% and Tata Steel up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.26%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.19%, Coal India down by 0.78%, Power Grid down by 0.77% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 906.74 points or 5.24% to 18,204.68, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 152.77 points or 1.05% to 14,709.64, Shanghai Composite gained 71.20 points or 2.31% to 3,149.75, Straits Times advanced 33.32 points or 1.03% to 3,273.38 and KOSPI was up by 25.12 points or 1.04% to 2,433.39. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 5.29 points or 0.08% to 7,012.07 and Nikkei 225 was down by 134.99 points or 0.48% to 28,027.84.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 66.63 points or 0.89% to 7,540.65, France’s CAC increased 27.74 points or 0.42% to 6,692.94 and Germany’s DAX was up by 44.31 points or 0.31% to 14,427.67.