Markets continue to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals as markets participants enlarged their positions. Meanwhile, broader Indices on the BSE were trading mixed. Sentiments got boost as a labour ministry has that retail inflation for farm and rural workers sequentially eased to 6.38 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, in December 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. Further, firm cues from global markets and positive earnings results from prominent companies also supported sentiments. On the sectoral front, Auto, Bankex, Telecom, FMCG and TECK witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while Realty, Power and Industrials remained the only losers on the BSE sectoral space.   

On the global front, Japanese stock market was trading higher following the broadly positive cues from US markets on Friday, with gains across most sectors, led by technology and financial stocks. Back home, in the stock specific development, Yes Bank dropped as investors react to its quarterly earnings and the judgment of the Bombay High Court quashing the writing down of Rs 8,300 crore of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds by the bank's administrator on June 14, 2020.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61020.26, up by 398.49 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 60761.88 and 61113.27. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index down by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.95%, Bankex up by 0.85%, Telecom up by 0.72%, FMCG up by 0.68% and TECK up by 0.63%, while Realty down by 0.75%, Power down by 0.15% and Industrials down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corp up by 2.02%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.01%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.82%, Sun Pharma up by 1.58% and Tata Motors up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.47%, NTPC down by 0.71% and Axis Bank down by 0.31% were the only losers.

Meanwhile, a labour ministry has said that retail inflation for farm and rural workers sequentially eased to 6.38 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, in December 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.  It noted that point-to-point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index for agricultural workers) and CPI-RL (rural workers) stood at 6.38 per cent & 6.60 per cent in December 2022 compared to 6.87 per cent & 6.99 per cent, respectively, in November 2022, and 4.78 per cent and 5.03 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month (December 2021) of the previous year.

Similarly, food inflation stood at 5.89 per cent and 5.76 per cent in December 2022 compared to 6.19 per cent and 6.05 per cent, respectively, in November 2022. It was 2.99 per cent and 3.17 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month of the previous year. The all-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers for December 2022 remained stationary at 1,167 points and for rural labourers increased by 1 point to stand at 1,179. The CPI-AL was at 1,167 points in November 2022, while CPI-RL was at 1,178 points in the previous month.

The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from the miscellaneous group to the extent of 0.91 and 0.93 points, respectively, mainly due to increase in prices of medicine, barber charges, bus fare, etc. The rise/fall in the index varied from state to state.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18137.25, up by 109.60 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 18063.45 and 18162.60. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corp up by 1.97%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.83%, Eicher Motors up by 1.62% and Sun Pharma up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.46%, JSW Steel down by 1.52%, NTPC down by 0.71%, Adani Enterprises down by 0.66% and SBI Life Insurance down by 0.60% were the top losers.

On the global front, Nikkei 225 rose 367.45 points or 1.39% to 26,923.17, with most markets closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.