Markets trade flat in late morning deals

Indian equity markets were trading flat with negative bias in late morning deals amid weak cues from global markets ahead of US Fed meet. Market participants remained on sidelines ahead of industrial production and retail inflation readings due later in the day. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 36 paise to 82.64 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market due to increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. However, losses remained capped as India's net direct tax collection grew 24% to Rs 8.77 lakh crore in the April-November of the ongoing fiscal. With this, the direct tax collection has reached around 61.79% of the full-year Budget Estimates (BE) for FY2023.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in red after a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment exceeded expectations in December and producer price data for November indicated that inflation is stickier than most assume, complicating the Fed's task to slow the pace of its rapid interest-rate hikes.  Back home, in stock specific developments, Jaiprakash Associates jumped on reports that the company is mulling over sale of its Nilgrie cement unit in Madhya Pradesh. VA Tech Wabag rallied after the company has secured industrial waste water treatment order in Romania worth about Rs 260 crore (30 million euros).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62164.35, down by 17.32 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 61676.15 and 62239.42. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.08%, while Small cap index up by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.80%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77%, Metal up by 0.54%, Capital Goods up by 0.48%a and Industrials up by 0.48%, while IT down by 0.69%, TECK down by 0.65%, Consumer Durables down by 0.64% and Healthcare down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.19%, HDFC Bank up by 1.09%, HDFC up by 0.83%, Tata Steel up by 0.81% and Nestle up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.12%, Infosys down by 1.56%, Titan Co down by 0.86%, Sun Pharma down by 0.78% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that automobile retail sales in India clocked best-ever performance in November 2022 aided by robust registrations across segments including passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. The overall automobile retail sales rose by 26 per cent to 23,80,465 units in November 2022, as compared with 18,93,647 units in November 2021.

FADA President Manish Raj Singhania has said November 2022 has clocked highest retails in the history of Indian automobile Industry with March'20 as an exception when retails were higher due to BS IV to BS VI transition. He said the sales momentum continued even after the end of the festive period with the start of the wedding season. Passenger vehicle retail sales rose by 21 per cent year on year last month to cross three lakh unit mark in November aided by better availability of models, new launches and increase in demand in rural areas. The overall passenger vehicle retail sales in November 2022 rose to 3,00,922 units, as compared with 2,48,052 units in November 2021.

Singhania further said better availability of model mixes from past months, new launches and increase in rural demand continues to keep the segment in healthy condition. Compact SUV and SUV category coupled with higher variant models continues to rule to roost. He noted that aided by brisk offtake, two-wheeler retails rose to 18,47,708 units last month, up 24 per cent, as against 14,94,797 units in November 2021. The commercial vehicle sales rose by 33 per cent to 79,369 units last month, as compared with 59,765 units in last November. He added that the government's continued focus in the infrastructure space and new mining projects, replacement demand continued to push the segment. Three-wheeler and tractor retails grew by 81 per cent and 57 per cent respectively last month as compared with year-ago period. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18491.70, down by 4.90 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 18345.70 and 18521.55. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.92%, Divi's Lab up by 1.31%, Indusind Bank up by 1.21%, HDFC Bank up by 1.01% and Apollo Hospital up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.21%, Infosys down by 1.69%, Eicher Motors down by 1.14%, Titan down by 0.92% and Cipla down by 0.90% were the top losers

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 58.68 points or 0.21% to 27,842.33, Taiwan Weighted dropped 92.84 points or 0.63% to 14,612.59, Shanghai Composite declined 17.72 points or 0.55% to 3,189.23, KOSPI fell 15.53 points or 0.65% to 2,373.51, Jakarta Composite lost 31.61 points or 0.47% to 6,683.51 and Hang Seng decreased 359.07 points or 1.8% to 19,541.80. However, Straits Times advanced 0.76 points or 0.02% to 3,246.73.