Bourses trade near day’s lowest points in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded near day’s lowest points in late afternoon session. Traders were worried after India’s December 2022 trade deficit rose 12.8% at $23.76 billion as against $21.10 billion December 2021. India's exports declined around 12% on a year-on-year basis to $34.48 billion in December 2022 as against $39.27 billion in the same month last year. Traders ignored report that 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 are trading mostly in green following another rally on Wall Street fuelled by optimism over the world economy as inflation slows and China reopens to the world. European markets were trading higher at the start of a week that includes important inflation data, a policy-setting meeting by the Bank of Japan as well as the return of the World Economic Forum to Davos.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60039.04, down by 222.14 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 59963.83 and 60586.77. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.00%, IT up by 0.91%, Power up by 0.77%, TECK up by 0.68% and PSU was up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.04%, Auto down by 0.76%, Telecom down by 0.75%, Consumer Durables down by 0.59% and Bankex was down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.51%, HCL Tech up by 1.57%, Infosys up by 1.21%, Wipro up by 1.00% and Power Grid up by 0.47%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.85%, TCS down by 1.31%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.20%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.19% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, 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.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, declined by 2.98% to 172.4 (provisional) in December 2022 from 177.7 (provisional) for the month of November 2022. Prices of Non-food Articles and Minerals increased in December 2022 as compared to November 2022, while prices of Food Articles and Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas declined in December 2022 as compared to November 2022.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined by 1% to 158 (provisional) in December 2022 from 159.6 (provisional) for the month of November 2022. Prices of Electricity increased in December 2022 as compared to November 2022, while prices of Mineral Oils declined in December 2022 as compared to November 2022. Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, declined by 0.28% to 141.1 (provisional) in December 2022 from 141.5 (provisional) for the month of November 2022. For the month of October 2022, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 152.9 and 8.67% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17876.20, down by 80.40 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 17853.65 and 18049.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.49%, HCL Tech up by 1.57%, Infosys up by 1.09%, Wipro up by 0.94% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.79%, Axis Bank down by 1.80%, JSW Steel down by 1.50%, TCS down by 1.35% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted added 102.88 points or 0.69% to 14,927.01, Jakarta Composite gained 46.23 points or 0.69% to 6,688.06, Shanghai Composite strengthened 32.28 points or 1% to 3,227.59, KOSPI increased 13.77 points or 0.57% to 2,399.86 and Hang Seng was up by 8.06 points or 0.04% to 21,746.72. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 14.92 points or 0.45% to 3,278.83 and Nikkei 225 was down by 297.2 points or 1.15% to 25,822.32.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.73 points or 0.14% to 7,854.80, France’s CAC rose 0.37 points or 0.01% to 7,023.87 and Germany’s DAX was up by 12.95 points or 0.09% to 15,099.47.