Benchmarks slip into red terrain in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains and slipped into red terrain in morning deals, as fears of a global slowdown amid Covid-19 fears in China and likely recession in the US and Europe weighed on cyclical sectors. Traders also remained cautious as pressing for the prohibition of instruments like Bitcoin, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das  warned that the next financial crisis can be triggered by private cryptocurrencies, if such speculative instruments are allowed to grow. Some concern also came as provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,119.11 crore on December 21. Traders overlooked former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that the Indian economy is likely to grow at over 7 per cent in the current fiscal year, and observed that the growth rate should sustain next year too provided the forthcoming Budget does not have any negative surprises. Panagariya further said recessionary fears have been around for a while but so far neither the US nor the EU has gone into recession.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after an upbeat reading on U.S. consumers cheered Wall Street investors. In a surprise, U.S. consumer confidence rose to an eight-month high in December as the labour market remained strong. Back home, stocks related to steel industry remained in watch with rating agency ICRA’s report stated that the demand for finished steel in India is expected to grow 8 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2021. It said supported by the government's infrastructure-led growth model, domestic finished steel demand has registered a double-digit growth of 11.9 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60872.26, down by 194.98 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 60866.06 and 61464.38. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.09%, while Small cap index was down by 1.95%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Healthcare up by 0.26%, while Industrials down by 1.66%, Utilities down by 1.61%, Power down by 1.46%, Oil & Gas down by 1.46% and Capital Goods down by 1.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.81%, Infosys up by 0.62%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.56% and HCL Technologies up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.40%, Tata Motors down by 2.05%, Axis Bank down by 1.88%, Indusind Bank down by 1.65% and Tata Steel down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) has said India's auto components industry witnessed a 34.8 per cent growth to Rs 2.65 lakh crore in first-half of current financial year (H1FY23), riding on domestic demand, particularly from the passenger vehicles segment.  It highlighted during the period, exports of components grew by 8.6 per cent to USD 10.1 billion (Rs 79.03 lakh crore), while imports climbed 17.2 per cent to USD 10.1 billion (Rs 79.8 lakh crore).

ACMA President Sunjay Kapur said ‘We've seen great growth come out of passenger cars and commercial vehicles... The festive season was very positive for two-wheelers, and we hope that two-wheelers will be back on the growth track, like they have been in the past.’ Further, he said moderation in the supply-side issues, such as availability of semiconductors, high input raw-material costs and non-availability of containers, also helped in the growth witnessed in the first half of the ongoing fiscal.

Besides, ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta said ‘In the first half, 47 per cent of our revenue to the supply to the OEMs, which is USD 28.6 billion dollars, came from passenger vehicles. Interestingly, in the first half of last fiscal, the passenger vehicles accounted for about 38 per cent of our revenue from the OEM.’ He added there has been a demand shift towards SUVs, and the value proposition has also been enhanced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18147.65, down by 51.45 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 18134.25 and 18318.75. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.68%, Cipla up by 0.62%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.53% and Infosys up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.13%, UPL down by 2.13%, Axis Bank down by 1.83%, BPCL down by 1.75% and Tata Motors down by 1.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 528.18 points or 2.76% to 19,688.67, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 188.50 points or 1.32% to 14,422.90, Nikkei 225 surged 127.71 points or 0.48% to 26,515.43, KOSPI rose 19.41 points or 0.83% to 2,348.36, Straits Times advanced 18.93 points or 0.58% to 3,275.12 and Shanghai Composite gained 7.40 points or 0.24% to 3,075.81.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 12.08 points or 0.18% to 6,808.58.