Benchmarks trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains to trade lower in morning deals, due to losses in IT, TECK and Utilities stocks. Traders turned cautious with a private report that the Reserve Bank of India’s curb on securitising loans having residual maturity of less than 365 days may hit the sale of short-term advances like micro-finance, personal loans and gold loans for a while. Some concern also came as exchange data showed that Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,131.67 crore on Thursday. Sectorally, aviation industry stocks remained in focus as credit ratings agency Icra said domestic air passenger volume increased 3 per cent to 23.4 million in November on a sequential basis propelled by resilient travel demand and onset of the peak holiday season. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green propped up by Hong Kong and China stocks amid growing optimism over an easing of COVID restrictions in the world's second biggest economy even as fears of a slowdown and worries over Fed interest rate rises linger.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62402.33, down by 168.35 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 62393.12 and 62735.42. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.49%, Healthcare up by 0.46%, Capital Goods up by 0.41%, Industrials up by 0.39% and Telecom up by 0.35%, while IT down by 1.76%, TECK down by 1.54%, Utilities down by 0.45%, Realty down by 0.37% and Power down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.65%, Sun Pharma up by 1.28%, Nestle up by 0.91%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.56% and ITC up by 0.55%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 5.65%, Infosys down by 2.15%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.90%, Wipro down by 1.25% and TCS down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Credit ratings agency Icra has said domestic air passenger volume increased 3 per cent to 23.4 million in November 2022 on a sequential basis propelled by resilient travel demand and onset of the peak holiday season. However, it remained 7 per cent lower compared to the corresponding month of the pre-pandemic period.

It stated overall, the recovery in domestic passenger traffic has been strong since April this year, supported by easing of travel restrictions, resilient passenger demand, reopening of offices, and increase in business and leisure travel.

It mentioned post resumption of international commercial operations from March 27, international air passenger traffic has steadily increased and reached 81 per cent of pre-Covid levels in November, at 4.9 million in the month, growing 3 per cent sequentially. Besides, Icra expects overall domestic passenger traffic to reach 97-98 per cent of pre-Covid levels (FY20) in FY23 and international traffic to reach 87-90 per cent of pre-Covid levels by end-FY23.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18563.95, down by 45.40 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 18562.80 and 18664.70. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 1.72%, Sun Pharma up by 1.20%, Nestle up by 0.98%, Adani Ports &Special up by 0.71% and Eicher Motors up by 0.64%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 5.71%, Infosys down by 2.19%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.96%, Wipro down by 1.25% and UPL down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 351.33 points or 1.27% to 27,925.76, Straits Times added 3.66 points or 0.11% to 3,239.74, Hang Seng jumped 319.19 points or 1.64% to 19,769.42, Taiwan Weighted rose 144.67 points or 0.99% to 14,697.71, KOSPI advanced 9.90 points or 0.42% to 2,380.98 and Shanghai Composite was up by 2.67 points or 0.08% to 3,200.02.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 94.18 points or 1.38% to 6,710.05.