Sensex, Nifty fall further in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in early afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday low points, on the back of mixed cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious after Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said underlying economic activity in India continues to be strong, but external factors will cause some dent to the economy. Adding more worries, a private report stated that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity globally fell well short of the high-water mark set last year as debt financing markets collapsed and stock market volatility decimated valuations, and dealmakers are predicting a slow path to recovery in 2023.

Besides, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the suspension of trading in derivative contracts for seven commodities, namely paddy (non-basmati), wheat, chana, mustard seeds and its derivatives, soyabean and its derivatives, crude palm oil and moong, for one year. The suspension of trading in the above contracts has been extended for one more year beyond December 20, 2022 i.e. till December 20, 2023.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as Taiwan's export orders declined at a faster-than-expected rate in November. The data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that export orders fell 23.4 percent year-on-year in November. Bookings for optical, photographic, cinematographic apparatus decreased 43.0 percent annually in November and those for plastics and related articles, rubber and related articles fell 36.7 percent. Orders for chemicals slumped 28.9 percent and those for basic metals and articles thereof plunged 35.3 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61443.46, down by 258.83 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 61376.49 and 62006.46. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 0.07%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.97%, Realty up by 0.40%, IT up by 0.40% and TECK up by 0.11%, while FMCG down by 0.79%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64%, Energy down by 0.63%, Power down by 0.55% and Telecom down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.12%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.96%, HCL Tech. up by 0.84%, Wipro up by 0.36% and TCS up by 0.17%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.11%, ITC down by 1.09%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.92%, ICICI Bank down by 0.85% and Indusind Bank down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a labour bureau statement has said that retail inflation for farm and rural workers rose to 6.87 per cent and 6.99 per cent, respectively, in November on annual basis. Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index-agricultural labours) and CPI-RL (rural labourers) stood at 7.22 per cent & 7.34 per cent respectively in October, 2022 and 3.02 per cent and 3.38 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month (November 2021) of the previous year.

Food inflation stood at 6.19 per cent and 6.05 per cent in November, 2022 compared to 7.05 per cent and 7 per cent respectively in October 2022 and 0.88 per cent and 1.07 per cent respectively during the corresponding month (November 2021) of the previous year. The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers for the month of November 2022 increased by 8 points each to stand at 1167 and 1178 points respectively. The CPI-AL was at 1,159 points in October 2022, while CPI-RL was at 1,170 points.

The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from food group to the extent of 4.05 & 3.56 points respectively mainly due to an increase in prices of rice, wheat-atta, jowar, bajra, pulses, meat goat, mustard-oil, milk, ghee, onion, chillies dry, mixed spices, tea-readymade, etc.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18309.75, down by 75.55 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 18296.70 and 18473.35. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.77%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.71%, Cipla up by 1.62%, Sun Pharma up by 1.22% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Britannia Industries down by 1.93%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.51%, HDFC down by 1.09%, ITC down by 1.07% and ONGC down by 1.03% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 64.37 points or 0.45% to 14,234.40, Hang Seng increased 42.05 points or 0.22% to 19,136.85, Jakarta Composite soared 23.97 points or 0.35% to 6,792.29 and Straits Times advanced 2.39 points or 0.07% to 3,256.36, while KOSPI fell 4.34 points or 0.19% to 2,328.95, Shanghai Composite declined 7.15 points or 0.23% to 3,066.62 and Nikkei 225 slipped 180.31 points or 0.68% to 26,387.72.