Markets trade lower in early deals

Indian equity markets have made a flat start and are now trading lower in early deals on Wednesday despite firm cues from global markets. Traders were concerned as the World Bank slashed its 2023 growth forecasts to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, and the world’s major economic engines sputter. It expected global GDP growth of 1.7% in 2023, the slowest pace outside the 2009 and 2020 recessions since 1993. In its previous Global Economic Prospects report in June 2022, the bank had forecast 2023 global growth at 3.0%. Further, there was also cautiousness in the markets as a private report stated that private equity investments into domestic companies fell sharply year-on-year by 42 per cent to USD 23.3 billion in 2022, which is the lowest since 2019, when it was USD 15.8 billion. The numbers reflect the overall funding winter that the startup space in particular, and the overall foreign investments in general have been witnessing since the Ukraine war began last February.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from US markets overnight, as optimism surrounding China's reopening helped offset concerns about interest rates. The US markets ended higher on Tuesday as traders added to bets that inflation may be easing. Back home,  there were some buzz in gem and jewellery related stocks as Gem Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said the overall gem and jewellery exports in December declined 11.25 per cent to Rs 19,432.88 crores (USD 2,356.70 million) due to rising prices, affecting the cost of living and talks of a downturn in the US. During December 2021, the overall gems and jewellery exports stood at Rs 21,896.46 crores (USD 2,905.79 million).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59968.95, down by 146.53 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 59805.78 and 60210.94. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.96%, IT up by 0.78%, Industrials up by 0.35%, Capital Goods up by 0.32%, and Bankex up by 0.30%, while Telecom down by 0.74%, Utilities down by 0.39%, Power down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.33% and Energy down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.11%, HCL up by 0.96%, ICICI Bank up by 0.81%, Infosys up by 0.79% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.42%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.70%, Reliance Industries down by 0.62%, Nestle down by 0.46% and Asian Paints down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has said that the Indian economy is likely to grow at the rate of 6.6 percent in the next financial year (FY24) even as it projected a gloomy outlook for the global economy. It stated that India’s growth is projected to slow, to 6.6 percent in FY24 before falling back toward its potential rate of just above 6 percent. Last month, the World Bank had projected India's FY 23 growth at 6.4 percent.

Further, it slashed its 2023 growth forecasts to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia's war in Ukraine continues, and the world's major economic engines sputter. The Bank said it expected global GDP growth of 1.7% in 2023, the slowest pace outside the 2009 and 2020 recessions since 1993. In its previous Global Economic Prospects report in June 2022, the bank had forecast 2023 global growth at 3.0%.

Besides, it forecast global growth in 2024 to pick up to 2.7% -- below the 2.9% estimate for 2022 -- and said average growth for the 2020-2024 period would be under 2% -- the slowest five-year pace since 1960. The bank said major slowdowns in advanced economies, including sharp cuts to its forecast to 0.5% for both the United States and the euro zone, could foreshadow a new global recession less than three years after the last one.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17870.15, down by 44.00 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 17824.35 and 17938.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.19%, JSW Steel up by 1.58%, Tata Motors up by 1.20%, HCL up by 1.13% and Infosys up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.47%, Cipla down by 1.17%, Eicher Motors down by 1.12%, Divi's Lab down by 0.90% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 265.93 points or 1.02% to 26,441.49, Straits Times advanced 9.77 points or 0.3% to 3,272.68, Shanghai Composite gained 6.29 points or 0.2% to 3,175.80, KOSPI rose 2.18 points or 0.09% to 2,353.49 and Hang Seng increased 228.08 points or 1.07% to 21,559.54. However, Taiwan Weighted dropped 42.98 points or 0.29% to 14,759.98 and Jakarta Composite lost 37.08 points or 0.56% to 6,585.42.