Weakness persists over Dalal Street

Weakness continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty remaining under pressure, on the back of heavy selling at Realty and Power counters along with negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders were taking note of a private report stating that small stocks of Dalal Street grappled with turbulent times in 2022 as high volatility and higher interest rate regime sapped investors' appetite for these scrips but the horizon ahead seems less cloudy for the New Year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the value of retail sales in South Korea was down a seasonally adjusted 1.8 percent on month in November. That missed expectations for a decline of 1.0 percent following the 0.2 percent contraction in October. On a yearly basis, retail sales were down 2.2 percent - again missing forecasts for a decline of 1.5 percent following the 0.7 percent drop in the previous month.

Back home, auto industry stocks were in watch as Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that India is aiming to double the size of its automobile industry from Rs 7.5 lakh crore to Rs 15 lakh crore by the end of 2024, making it one of the largest automakers in the world, creating huge job opportunities.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60619.91, down by 290.37 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 60479.06 and 60688.81. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.88%, while Small cap index was down by 0.17%.

There were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE, while Realty down by 1.06%, Power down by 1.03%, Utilities down by 0.96%, Consumer Durables down by 0.93% and FMCG down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 0.68%, SBI up by 0.38%, Indusind Bank up by 0.23% and Tata Steel up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.99%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.95%, Titan Co down by 1.24%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.24% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India is aiming to double the size of its automobile industry from Rs 7.5 lakh crore to Rs 15 lakh crore by the end of 2024, making it one of the largest automakers in the world, creating huge job opportunities.

Union Minister noted that his ministry will carry out project works worth Rs 5 lakh crore next year, of which Rs 2 lakh crore will come from the government and the rest will be raised from the capital market. Gadkari also said that the ministry is also working on developing alternative, clean and green fuels like bio-ethanol, bio-CNG, bio-LNG and green hydrogen and added that green hydrogen is the fuel of the future.

Besides, Nitin Gadkari said that the majority of automobiles in the country will run on alternative fuels by 2030. The minister further said that with the philosophy of inclusive growth, India will play a key role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18023.90, down by 98.60 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 17992.80 and 18061.00. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 0.80%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.68%, SBI up by 0.32%, Indusind Bank up by 0.19% and Tata Steel up by 0.18%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.04%, Hindalco down by 2.01%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.94%, Tata Motors down by 1.93% and Apollo Hospital down by 1.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 246.83 points or 0.94% to 26,093.67, Hang Seng decreased 202.36 points or 1.02% to 19,696.55, Taiwan Weighted dropped 88.08 points or 0.62% to 14,085.02, KOSPI fell 44.05 points or 1.93% to 2,236.40, Straits Times trembled 26.23 points or 0.8% to 3,240.74 and Shanghai Composite declined 10.89 points or 0.35% to 3,076.51, while Jakarta Composite soared 17.30 points or 0.25% to 6,867.82.