Sensex, Nifty trade near day’s low points

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday low points, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious, as economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that regulatory and internal market barriers of China are some of the major impediments which impact India's exports to that country. Easing inflation data failed to boost sentiments over the street. India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased further to 4.95% (Provisional) for the month of December 2022 as against 5.85% recorded in November 2022 and 8.39% in October 2022. Decline in the rate of inflation in December is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals & chemical products.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after producer prices in Japan were up 0.5 percent on month in December, slowing from the upwardly revised 0.8 percent increase in November (originally 0.6 percent). On a yearly basis, producer prices jumped 10.2 percent - up from the upwardly revised 9.7 percent spike in the previous month (originally 9.3 percent).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60143.10, down by 118.08 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 60115.85 and 60586.77. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.89%, TECK up by 0.59%, Utilities up by 0.30%, Power up by 0.19% and PSU up by 0.01%, while Metal down by 1.31%, Telecom down by 0.83%, Auto down by 0.69%, Oil & Gas down by 0.60% and Energy down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.35%, HCL Technologies up by 1.91%, Wipro up by 1.17%, Infosys up by 1.03% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.74%, NTPC down by 1.73%, TCS down by 1.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.25% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to incentivise them to scrap old vehicles and also provide tax concessions to individuals for it, the Union government will give an additional Rs 2,000 crore to states under the Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme. The government in 2022-23 Budget had introduced the 'Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment' scheme with an outlay of Rs 1.05 lakh crore. Under the scheme, financial assistance is being provided to state governments in the form of 50-year interest free loan for capital projects.

In last month, the finance ministry, in a letter to states, had said that a new sector road transport has been identified for providing incentive tied to prescribed reforms by states under the scheme. Incentive for scrapping of old vehicles has been added to the scheme and an amount of Rs 2,000 crore has been earmarked for scrapping state government vehicles which are older than 15 years, waiver of liabilities on old vehicles and providing tax concessions to individuals for scrapping of old vehicles.

With the inclusion of road transport sector, the total outlay under the scheme has increased to Rs 1.07 lakh crore, from Rs 1.05 lakh crore announced in the Budget. So far, the government has approved Rs 77,110 crore under the scheme, out of which Rs 41,118 crore has been released to states. The scheme aims to encourage states to undertake capital expenditure and has earmarked Rs 80,000 crore for it.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17895.80, down by 60.80 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 17891.60 and 18049.65. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.41%, HCL Technologies up by 1.92%, Wipro up by 1.08%, Infosys up by 1.04% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.01%, Axis Bank down by 1.77%, NTPC down by 1.76%, TCS down by 1.60% and JSW Steel down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted surged 102.88 points or 0.69% to 14,927.01, KOSPI rose 13.77 points or 0.57% to 2,399.86, Jakarta Composite advanced 23.24 points or 0.35% to 6,665.07 and Shanghai Composite was up by 32.28 points or 1.01 % to 3,227.59. On the other hand, Nikkei declined 297.20 points or 1.15% to 25,822.32, Straits Times lost 13.88 points or 0.42% to 3,280.94 and Hang Seng declined 162.49 points or 0.75% to 21,576.17.