Domestic equity indices trade with gains of over half percent

Domestic equity indices remained in green terrain with gains of over half a percent in late morning deals, on account of buying by fund and retail investors.  Sentiments got boost as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its report has said states’ gross fiscal deficit (GFD) is budgeted to decline from 4.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Covid-hit 2020-21 to 3.4 per cent of GDP in 2022-23 showing improvement in their fiscal health. It stated the fiscal health of the states has improved from a sharp pandemic-induced deterioration in 2020-21 on the back of a broad-based economic recovery and resulting high revenue collections. However, upside remained capped as depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 22 paise to 81.80 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in red as traders reacted to weak fourth-quarter economic data emerging from China, which reported its second-lowest annual economic growth in almost 50 years.  Back home, on the sectoral front, Utilities, Power, Capital Goods, FMCG and Industrials witnessed the maximum gains in the trade, while Metal, Telecom, Healthcare and Consumer Durables remained top losers on the BSE sectoral space.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60418.56, up by 325.59 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 60072.34 and 60578.70. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.19%, while Small cap index down by 0.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.37%, Power up by 1.32%, Capital Goods up by 1.20%, FMCG up by 0.85% and Industrials up by 0.73%, while Metal down by 0.45%, Telecom down by 0.35%, Healthcare down by 0.28%, Consumer Durables down by 0.18% and PSU down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.46%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.03%, HCL up by 1.39%, Tata Motors up by 1.13% and HDFC up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.27%, Tata Steel down by 0.83%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.82%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.73% and Sun Pharma down by 0.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India's merchandise exports dipped by 12.2 per cent to $34.48 billion in December 2022 as against $39.27 billion in the same month last year. Merchandise imports in December 2022 also declined to $58.24 billion as against $60.33 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit narrowed to $23.76 billion in December, the lowest level in eight months. The merchandise trade deficit stood at $23.89 billion in November. The trade deficit has narrowed consistently in December 2022 due to softening in imports. 

As per the data, merchandise exports for the period April-December 2022 were $332.76 billion as against $305.04 billion during the period April-December 2021. Merchandise imports for the period April-December 2022 were $551.70 billion as against $441.50 billion during the period April-December 2021. The merchandise trade deficit for April-December 2022 was estimated at $218.94 billion as against $136.45 billion in April-December 2021.

The data further showed that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in December 2022 were $27.00 billion, compared to $29.52 billion in December 2021. Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports during April-December 2022 were $233.50 billion, as compared to $229.95 billion in April-December 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports in December 2022 were $36.93 billion, compared to $35.95 billion in December 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $330.78 billion in April-December 2022 as compared to $266.86 billion in April-December 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17988.85, up by 94.00 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 17886.95 and 18029.95. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.61%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.08%, HCL up by 1.47%, Tata Motors up by 1.19% and HDFC up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.23%, Tata Steel down by 0.83%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.79%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.71% and BPCL down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in red; Hang Seng declined 276.39 points or 1.27% to 21,470.33, KOSPI dropped 23.24 points or 0.97% to 2,376.62, Taiwan Weighted added 5.92 points or 0.04% to 14,932.93, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.3 points or 0.44% to 3,213.29 and Straits Times fell 7.32 points or 0.22% to 3,276.28. However, Jakarta Composite gained 85.38 points or 1.26% to 6,773.44 and Nikkei 225 surged 314.41 points or 1.22% to 26,136.73.