Benchmarks continue to trade on bearish note

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade on a bearish note with losses of over half percent in morning deals, amid largely negative cues from global markets. Sentiments remained down-beat as data from the central bank showed that India's services exports and imports in October fell from the previous month. Services exports in October stood at $25.38 billion, down from $28.03 billion in September, while imports slipped to $13.49 billion from $16.12 billion a month earlier. Traders overlooked the Finance Ministry stating that Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues rose by 11 per cent to about Rs 1.46 lakh crore in November over the year-ago period. This is the ninth straight month when collections from GST has remained above Rs 1.40 lakh crore. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a four-tiered regulatory framework for categorisation of Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs), Besides, the central bank has come out with norms pertaining to the net worth and capital adequacy of these banks.

On the global front, the Asian markets are trading in red as investors awaited the release of U.S. unemployment data later in the day for additional cues on Fed's next policy steps. Back home, Aviation industry stocks remained in limelight as Jet fuel (ATF) price was reduced by 2.3 per cent, reflecting softening international oil prices but petrol and diesel rates remained on freeze for a record eighth month in running.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62919.33, down by 364.86 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 62857.44 and 63148.59. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 0.58%, Realty up by 0.51%, Oil & Gas up by 0.43%, Energy up by 0.36% and Industrials up by 0.34%, while Auto down by 1.00%, Power down by 0.93%, Utilities down by 0.89%, TECK down by 0.65% and IT down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 0.32%, Reliance Industries up by 0.19%, Tata Steel up by 0.18%, NTPC up by 0.12% and SBI up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.65%, TCS down by 1.48%, Asian Paints down by 1.26%, HDFC down by 1.17% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government in its latest data has stated that India's power consumption logged a double-digit growth of 13.6 per cent to 112.81 billion units in November 2022 compared to the year-ago period. The robust growth of power consumption in the month mainly indicates an increase in economic activities as generally it remains subdued in November.

It mentioned in November last year, power consumption was 99.32 billion units (BU), higher than 96.88 BU in the same month of 2020. The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, last month rose to 187.38 gigawatt (GW).

The peak power supply stood at 166.10 GW in November 2021 and 160.77 GW in November 2020. The peak power demand met was 155.32 GW in November 2019, which was the pre-pandemic period. Electricity consumption in November 2019 stood at 93.94 BU.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18705.10, down by 107.40 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 18689.70 and 18781.95. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.43%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.03%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.88%, BPCL up by 0.63% and Coal India up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.57%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.64%, Divi's Lab down by 1.58%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.57% and TCS down by 1.49% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 483.73 points or 1.71% to 27,742.35, Straits Times declined 24.21 points or 0.74% to 3,268.52, Hang Seng plunged 123.95 points or 0.66% to 18,612.49, Taiwan Weighted lost 26.56 points or 0.18% to 14,986.24, KOSPI fell 35.15 points or 1.42% to 2,444.69, Jakarta Composite dropped 32.58 points or 0.46% to 6,988.22 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.73 points or 0.34% to 3,154.74.