Markets continue to trade in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices continued to trade in red in late morning deals on account of selling by fund and retail investors.  Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were also trading in red. Weak cues from global markets dampened domestic sentiments. Sentiments remained negative as weak U.S. data rekindled recession worries. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 6 paise to 81.36 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks.  Meanwhile, market participants took a note of report that IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath has cautioned that India needs to work on labour markets and land, even as she hailed the country for doing better than many global economies.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from US markets overnight, on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fear as disappointing US data showed a more than expected drop in retail sales and industrial production. Back home, in the stock specific development, Mahindra Lifespace Developers surged after the company forayed into society redevelopment space and will be developing two adjacent housing societies in the Santacruz suburb of Mumbai. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60862.93, down by 182.81 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 60716.55 and 61032.47. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.12%, while Small cap index down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.48%, Oil & Gas up by 0.36%, Energy up by 0.26%, Consumer Disc up by 0.05% and Basic Materials up by 0.02%, while Utilities down by 1.29%, Power down by 1.08%, Consumer Durables down by 0.93%, FMCG down by 0.50% and Telecom down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 0.98%, Asian Paints up by 0.43%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.30%, HDFC Bank up by 0.25% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.54%, Titan down by 1.19%, Indusind Bank down by 1.10%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.03% and ICICI Bank down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic credit ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said the domestic automotive industry has seen a healthy revival in the current fiscal, aided by a recovery in economic activities and increased mobility, and is expected to grow at high single-digit levels across segments in FY24. It stated, category-wise, passenger and commercial vehicle volumes could see a growth of 6-9 per cent and 7-10 per cent, respectively, the two-wheeler and tractors are estimated to grow at 6-9 per cent and 4-6 per cent, respectively, in the financial year starting April 2023.

According to the report, the demand sentiments for a majority of the automotive segments such as passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and tractors have remained healthy, aiding in the improved off-take for the industry participants. However, it said the two-wheeler industry continues to struggle with industry volumes still below the pre-Covid peak levels; even as improved off-take in the recent festive and marriage season has provided optimism, a sustained recovery in demand sentiments is yet to be seen.

It mentioned a similar trend of relatively weak off-take has been seen for the entry-level car segment, implying that the purchasing power of the consumers at the bottom end of the pyramid has been eroded to an extent over the past few years by the significant rise in vehicle prices (a result of price hikes to combat inflationary pressures and meet stringent regulatory requirements) and disruptions caused by the pandemic.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18122.50, down by 42.85 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 18063.75 and 18155.20. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.66%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.06%, Tata Steel up by 1.06%, SBI Life up by 0.88% and ONGC up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.86%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.51%, Titan Co down by 1.20%, Indusind Bank down by 1.14% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.42 points or 0.11% to 3,227.83, KOSPI increased 7.19 points or 0.3% to 2,375.51 and Jakarta Composite gained 36.19 points or 0.53% to 6,801.98. However, Hang Seng declined 16.77 points or 0.08% to 21,661.23, Straits Times fell 16.67 points or 0.51% to 3,272.88 and Nikkei 225 slipped 407.58 points or 1.52% to 26,383.54.