Sensex, Nifty turn negative during early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased all of their gains and now are trading in red terrain, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Selling at Auto and Capital Goods counters dragged down markets, while Reliance Industries was the top loser among industry leaders.  Sentiments got hit, as the economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that the Indian economy and exports will be moderately impacted in 2023 by weak global demand and recession in large economies and to improve its current account, the country should aim at reducing energy import bill. GTRI said that in 2022, India will pay USD 270 billion in imports of crude oil and coal, which is about 40 per cent of total merchandise import bill.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as Taiwan's manufacturing contraction eased at the end of the year, but remained marked overall amid still severe falls in output and new orders. The survey figures from S&P Global showed that the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 44.6 in December from 41.6 in November. However, any score below 50 signals contraction. New orders rose at the slowest pace in six months, though they were among the sharpest in the survey's history.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61108.09, down by 59.70 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 61004.04 and 61300.10. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.58%, TECK up by 0.43%, Healthcare up by 0.31% and Telecom up by 0.30%, while Auto down by 0.46%, Capital Goods down by 0.37%, FMCG down by 0.36%, Industrials down by 0.27% and Metal down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.26%, Axis Bank up by 1.25%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.92%, Indusind Bank up by 0.68% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 0.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.93%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.84%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.78% and ICICI Bank down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ports, Shipping and Waterways minister Sarbananda Sonowal has said that public-private partnership in port infrastructure has been an important source of investment in the sector and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has a pipeline of 44 projects for total investment of Rs 22,900 crore till 2024-25. Moreover, he said the government is working on the guidelines for dealing with stressed public-private partnership (PPP) projects at major ports and has also come up with policies to support the shipbuilding industry in India. On the policy front, he said the ministry is working on the Guidelines for dealing with stressed PPP projects at major ports.

The minister further said that under the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), MoPSW has accorded approval to 22 projects worth Rs 12,222 crore. Out of the 22 projects, seven projects worth Rs 5,278 crore have already been awarded on PPP mode, rest projects are in various stages of bidding. According to him, the ministry is also working on the Captive Policy and Migration Policy (to new MCA and Tariff regime) to improve the ease of doing business and provide a conducive environment for private sector investments in the port sector.

He said under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, MoPSW has identified 101 projects worth Rs 56,831 crore for implementation by 2024. Out of these, 13 projects worth Rs 4,423 crore have been completed and 9 projects worth Rs 716 crore are expected to be completed by March 2023. The Ports, Shipping and Waterways ministry has identified 9 High Impact Projects (HIP) and these have been uploaded in the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) portal and are being monitored at the Cabinet Secretariat level. Three HIP projects are already completed.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18181.30, down by 16.15 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 18149.80 and 18240.40. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 4.79%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.96%, TCS up by 1.22%, Axis Bank up by 1.09% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 1.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.97%, Reliance Industries down by 0.96%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.88% and ONGC down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 348.26 points or 1.76% to 20,129.67, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 86.43 points or 0.61% to 14,224.12, Shanghai Composite gained 26.33 points or 0.85% to 3,115.59 and Jakarta Composite soared 43.78 points or 0.64% to 6,894.76. However, Straits Times trembled 8.80 points or 0.27% to 3,242.52 and KOSPI fell 6.99 points or 0.31% to 2,218.68.