Benchmarks widens opening losses in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday tracking mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. Soon, markets extended their losses and are trading lower with cut of around half a percent each in early deals as traders remained on the sidelines ahead of the monthly F&O expiry for January derivatives contracts later in the day. Also, investors avoided taking any long positions ahead of holiday on Thursday on account of Republic Day. Market participants also remained cautious ahead of the Union Budget due to be unveiled next week. Sustained foreign fund outflows weighted down on the domestic sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FII) have net sold shares worth Rs 760.51 crore on January 24, as per provisional data available on the NSE. Moreover, selling in counters such as Utilities, Power and Realty also dragged the markets lower. Meanwhile, Rupee gained by 10 paise and is trading at 81.53 in early deals from its previous close on Wednesday to 81.63 vs the US dollar amid ease in value of greenback against a basket of peers.

On the global front, Most of the Asian markets are trading higher, following the mixed cues from global markets overnight, with traders cautiously assessing recent economic data and remaining optimistic about the US Fed further slowing the pace of interest rate hikes next week following recent comments from Fed officials. Markets in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong remain closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. Back home, in stock specific development, Coffee Day Enterprises tumbled as market regulator SEBI imposed a penalty of Rs 26 crore on the company for diversion of funds from subsidiaries to a company related to promoters.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60685.99, down by 292.76 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 60660.65 and 60899.21. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.70%, while Small cap index was down by 0.43%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.47%, Auto up by 0.06%, while Utilities down by 1.23%, Power down by 1.02%, Realty down by 1.00%, Consumer Durables down by 0.87%, PSU down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.12%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.60%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.34% and Tata Motors up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.77%, SBI down by 1.48%, Indusind Bank down by 1.37%, Titan Company down by 1.08% and HDFC Bank down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Icra Ratings in its recent note stated that after remaining stable for many weeks, the cost of borrowing for states inched up by 5 basis points to 7.64 per cent at January 23 auction when 15 of them raised Rs 25,700 crore from the market.

It said the amount of debt raised is a 13-week high and for the first time shows an annualised growth of 8 per cent year-to-date -- a first as throughout the year, the weekly borrowing has been below the year-ago weeks, yet 15 per cent lower than the indicated amount in the borrowing calendar. The weighted average cut-off on state government loans rose 5 basis points to 7.64 per cent over the previous week, and the weighted average tenor rose to 13 years from 11 during the week.

Aidti Nayar head research and outreach at Icra said the spread between the 10-year state bonds and G-sec (government securities) yield stood at 30 basis points today, amidst an inverted yield curve. States have cumulatively raised Rs 5.12 lakh crore from the market, 6.7 per cent lower than what they did last year when it was Rs 5.46 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18022.15, down by 96.15 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 18012.60 and 18100.60. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.09%, Tata Steel up by 0.96%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.62%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.56% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.97%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.71%, SBI down by 1.52%, Indusind Bank down by 1.43% and Apollo Hospital down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 131.34 points or 0.48% to 27,430.53, Straits Times rose 56.33 points or 1.71% to 3,350.04 and KOSPI increased 31.93 points or 1.33% to 2,427.19, while Jakarta Composite plunged 13.93 points or 0.20% to 6,846.92.