Local bourses slip in red after positive start; Bajaj Finance tumbles over 6%

Indian equity indices started the session with decent gains on Thursday on firm global cues coupled with overnight significant fall in oil prices. Soon, indices turned volatile ahead of the weekly F&O expiry later in the day. Now, local bourses are trading flat with negative bias in early deals reacting to the FOMC minutes released overnight which suggests that the Fed will remain aggressive in its policy to control inflation. Also, continued foreign fund outflows weighted down on markets. Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 2,620.89 crore on January 4, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Though, downside remained capped amid higher opening of Indian rupee at 82.77 per dollar against the previous close of 82.82 per dollar, amid a weak dollar. Board based buying at FMCG, Auto and Oil & Gas counters also supported the markets from falling further.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading higher, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates as traders reacted to the minutes from the US Fed's recent monetary policy meeting. Also, investor hopes for China’s emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. Back home, in stock specific development, Bajaj Finance tumbled even as the company said that new loans booked during Q3FY23 were the highest-ever at 7.8 million as compared to 7.4 million in Q3FY22.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60587.57, down by 69.88 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 60547.69 and 60877.06. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.04%, Auto up by 0.48%, Oil & Gas up by 0.44%, Metal up by 0.39%, Capital Goods up by 0.33%, while Bankex down by 0.25%, IT down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.83%, Sun Pharma up by 1.52%, ITC up by 1.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.11% and Nestle up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 6.09%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.64%, Power Grid down by 1.26%, Axis Bank down by 0.54% and HDFC Bank down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s economic situation, Bibek Debroy, chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will be close to USD 20 trillion by 2047 and per capita income may reach USD 10,000 (at current value of USD). Therefore, he said India will be a transformed society He noted though the COVID-19 pandemic may have passed, still there is a lot of uncertainty around the world on what is happening in China, about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, growth prospects in Europe and the USA.

Remarking that basic necessities have been provided to the people and more so in the rural areas by the government, he said the economic indicators after the COVID have improved in India. Everyone is now looking to see the rate of growth in 2023-24 and the growth of economy by 2047. According to him, India may witness volatilities in forex markets and capital markets and exchange rates due to some of the uncertainties around the world such as Russia- Ukraine conflict, growth prospects in Europe and the USA. He said ‘since India is not insulated, we will also face the volatility, forex markets and capital markets and exchange rates will face volatility. Inflation rates will also be impacted to some uncertainty’.

Debroy opined that India needs need a simplified GST and direct tax as these are the areas on which everybody should think and the research that helps in making policy decisions much informed. In order to increase India's growth rate from 7 per cent to eight per cent, he said lot more research needs to be done at the level of the States as different States are at different levels of development and hence the sources of growth will also be different. He added ‘but the fact of the matter is that to raise the growth trajectory, we need to make land markets more efficient. Agriculture will also vastly improve when we make land markets more efficient. Similarly, we need to make the labour markets and capital markets also more efficient’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18034.30, down by 8.65 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 18031.15 and 18120.30. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 2.46%, NTPC up by 1.62%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.59%, Sun Pharma up by 1.41% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 6.10%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.82%, Power Grid down by 1.07%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.75% and Indusind Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 advanced 70.54 points or 0.27% to 25,787.40, Straits Times added 50.53 points or 1.56% to 3,292.99, Hang Seng surged 242.53 points or 1.17% to 21,035.64, Taiwan Weighted rose 99.12 points or 0.70% to 14,298.25, KOSPI inched up 0.26 points or 0.01% to 2,256.24 and Shanghai Composite was up by 27.47 points or 0.88% to 3,150.99, while Jakarta Composite was down by 104.86 points or 1.54% to 6,708.38.