Domestic equity indices remain in green in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices continued to trade in green in late morning deals on account of buying by fund and retails investors. Positive cues from global markets supported domestic sentiments. Traders remained positive amid bets for less-aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Traders were getting encouragement with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement  that the country's services exports are doing extremely well and going by the current trend these outbound shipments would register about 20 per cent growth in this fiscal and cross the USD 300 billion target despite global economic uncertainties. However, gains got trimmed as depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. The rupee declined by 17 paise to 81.59 against the US dollar due to a rise in crude oil prices and forex outflows.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. The Japanese stock market traded higher, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by technology stocks. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in IT, Consumer Durables, TECK, Auto and FMCG, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Telecom, Metal, Healthcare and PSU. In the stock specific development, Gravita India rallied after the company reported 28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in profit after tax at Rs 50.20 crore for the quarter ended December (Q3FY23), on the back of healthy topline growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61077.35, up by 135.68 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 60974.67 and 61266.06. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.30%, while Small cap index down by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.91%, Consumer Durables up by 0.54%, TECK up by 0.53%, Auto up by 0.34% and FMCG up by 0.25%, while Realty down by 1.25%, Telecom down by 1.05%, Metal down by 0.61%, Healthcare down by 0.54% and PSU down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.80%, HCL up by 1.38%, Infosys up by 1.14%, HDFC Bank up by 1.03% and Titan up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.95%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.36%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.14%, Sun Pharma down by 0.66% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the country's services exports are doing extremely well and going by the current trend these outbound shipments would register about 20 per cent growth in this fiscal (FY23) and cross the $300 billion target despite global economic uncertainties.

The minister said that on the merchandise front also, exports are so far registering healthy growth despite the world being under recession, huge inflationary pressure, and overstocking of various commodities. He also said with all these stress, where every global leader is talking of very tough times, India's exports rose 9 per cent year-on-year during April-December 2022-23. He said ‘so all in all, it will be a very satisfying year, given the global headwinds and the stress that is reported from almost every part of the world.’ He added that the government's structural reforms and steps like Make in India and Digital India are yielding fruits.

According to the data of the commerce ministry, the estimated value of services export in April-December 2022 is $235.81 billion as compared to $184.65 billion in the year-ago period. In 2021-22, these exports touched an all-time high of $254 billion. India's exports contracted 12.2 per cent to $34.48 billion in December 2022, mainly due to global headwinds, and the trade deficit widened to $23.76 billion during the same period. The minister said individual months have seen some ups and downs, but overall the exports sector is doing well so far despite global economic uncertainties.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18148.95, up by 30.40 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 18123.60 and 18201.25. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.27%, HCL up by 1.38%, Infosys up by 1.12%, Titan up by 1.06% and HDFC Bank up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.80%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.42%, Hindalco down by 1.34%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.19% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 rose 393.15 points or 1.44% to 27,299.19, while Jakarta Composite fell 24.67 points or 0.36% to 6,850.26.