Domestic indices wipe out opening losses; trade slightly higher in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start of the first trading day of the week tracking sluggish trade in Asian counterparts. But, soon markets turned positive and are trading slightly higher in early deals on account of bargain hunting after Friday’s sell-off. Though, market participants remained on sidelines ahead of crucial Union Budget to be presented on February 01 and a slew of central bank policy meetings due this week. Investor sentiments remained dampened amid continued selling by foreign investors. Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth a net Rs 5,977.86 crore on January 27, 2023, according to the data available on NSE. For the month till January 29, FII sold shares worth a net Rs 29,232.29 crore. Investors await more of financial results from India Inc for domestic cues, with L&T, BPCL and Bajaj Finserv due to post their earnings later in the day.

Most of the Asian markets are trading lower, despite broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, as traders remained cautious ahead of a busy week, when the US Fed, Bank of England and European Central Bank are due to lift interest rates in an effort to bring inflation down from a multi-decade high. Back home, telecom stocks were in focus as data by sector regulator TRAI showed that telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel cumulatively gained nearly 25 lakh mobile subscribers in November even as troubled Vodafone Idea lost nearly 18.3 lakh customers. In stock specific development, Bajaj Finance rallied on reporting 40% rise in Q3 consolidated net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59530.16, up by 199.26 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 58706.85 and 59644.24. There were 22 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.49%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.14%, Realty up by 0.99%, PSU up by 0.78%, Bankex up by 0.65%, Industrials up by 0.61%, while Oil & Gas down by 2.87%, Energy down by 2.42%, Utilities down by 1.80%, Power down by 1.59%, FMCG down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.77%, NTPC up by 1.95%, SBI up by 1.64%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.60% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.96%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.84%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.97%, Titan Company down by 0.29% and HDFC down by 0.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, pitching for the introduction of technologies in farming and rural and tribal areas, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India will find it difficult to realise the ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant) vision till the share of the agriculture and allied sectors in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) crosses 24 per cent.

He said ‘Our agriculture and allied sector income is 12 per cent of the GDP, manufacturing sector income is 22 to 24 per cent, and service sector is 52 to 54 per cent’. He stressed the need for the introduction of technology in rural and tribal regions saying it will alleviate poverty and hunger and elevate the areas from an economic perspective and create job opportunities.

He added ‘Till the time, we do not augment water, transportation and communication facilities in certain areas, industries won’t come’. He noted that industries come with capital investment, which has the potential to create jobs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17667.75, up by 63.40 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 17446.25 and 17709.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 10.00%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 9.99%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.80%, NTPC up by 1.95% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.57%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.17%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.03%, Power Grid down by 2.03%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.16% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng plunged 329.83 points or 1.45% to 22,359.07, KOSPI dropped 32.74 points or 1.32% to 2,451.28, Jakarta Composite declined 27.38 points or 0.4% to 6,871.60, Straits Times fell 9.98 points or 0.29% to 3,384.23 and Nikkei 225 slipped 3.48 points or 0.01% to 27,379.08. on the other hand, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 468.87 points or 3.14% to 15,401.80 and Shanghai Composite was up by 23.57 points or 0.72% to 3,288.38.