Benchmarks slip into red terrain in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks reversed initial gains and were now trading in red in morning deals, dragged by losses in IT, TECK and Banking stocks. Traders turned cautious with a private report that India's economy is expected to grow 5.5% in the next financial year, a notch below the expected potential rate of 6%, as growth momentum in the country was slowing gradually. Some concern also came with provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,449.45 crore on January 5, 2023. Adding to the pessimism, Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday showed that India recorded 228 new coronavirus infections, while the number of active cases decreased to 2,503. The total number of cases involving Covid was 4.46 crore (4,46,79,547).

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green on optimism over China's reopening and signs it is toning down its tough talk on a number of issues domestically and geopolitically. Select pharma stocks were trading in red with ratings agency ICRA’s report stated that continued pricing pressures in the US and European markets coupled with regulatory overhang and cost inflation will affect profit margins of major Indian pharmaceutical firms.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60183.10, down by 170.17 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 60172.09 and 60537.63. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.30%, while Small cap index down by 0.21%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.46%, Oil & Gas up by 0.11%, Industrials up by 0.11% and Capital Goods up by 0.07%, while IT down by 0.73%, TECK down by 0.72%, Bankex down by 0.64%, Utilities down by 0.51% and Power down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.99%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.89%, Reliance Industries up by 0.77%, ITC up by 0.67% and NTPC up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.82%, Indusind Bank down by 1.55%, TCS down by 1.16%, ICICI Bank down by 1.15% and Axis Bank down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union New and Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh has said his ministry will come out with detailed guidelines and standards for making India a global hub for hydrogen manufacturing. The comment comes a day after the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore. The Mission is expected to attract Rs 8 lakh crore of investment to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum in the next five years. The incentives provided under the Mission are aimed at bringing down the cost of green hydrogen.

He stated ‘We have decided that electrolysers can be made in India. So, we have worked out the PLI (production linked incentive) scheme for their domestic manufacturing that will cover manufacture of 15 gigawatts (GW) capacity. But we expect the capacity to be established to be almost in the region of 60 GW (by 2030).’  Moreover, he said ‘ We will announce a date up till which domestic industry will be allowed to import electrolysers at lower import duties, let's say by 2025-26. By 2025-26, we expect the domestic manufacturing capacity to come up. Thereafter, heavy import duties will kick-in, and we don't expect anybody to import electrolysers.’

Further, he said the PLI scheme on green hydrogen manufacturing will be available for the first few years till the domestic industry becomes competitive. Some countries such as Germany have come out with bids for importing green hydrogen. He added  ‘I have asked the domestic industry to analyse the bids and figure out whether they can also participate in the bidding.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17945.35, down by 46.80 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 17943.50 and 18047.40. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.35%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.81% and Adani Enterprises up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.99%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.93%, Indusind Bank down by 1.59%, JSW Steel down by 1.25% and ICICI Bank down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 158.85 points or 0.62% to 25,979.65, Hang Seng increased 110.16 points or 0.52% to 21,162.33, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 65.08 points or 0.46% to 14,366.13, Jakarta Composite soared 48.27 points or 0.73% to 6,702.11, KOSPI rose 32.14 points or 1.42% to 2,296.79 and Shanghai Composite gained 11.69 points or 0.37% to 3,166.91.

On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 6.62 points or 0.2% to 3,286.04.