Benchmarks trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat in morning deals, as a cautious undertone prevailed ahead of the crucial Union Budget on February 1 and a slew of central bank policy meetings due this week. Traders also remained cautious with report that foreign investors have pulled out a net of over Rs 17,000 crore this month so far due to the attractiveness of the Chinese markets and the cautious stance adopted by them ahead of the Union Budget and US Federal Reserve meeting. However, traders took some support with latest data showing that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) foreign exchange reserves climbed $1.7 billion to $573.73 billion in the week ended January 20.  The rise was on account of an increase in the RBI’s foreign currency assets as well as its gold holdings.

On the flip side, Asian markets are trading mostly in red ahead of a week that is certain to see interest rates rise in Europe and the United States, along with U.S. jobs and wage data that may influence how much further they still have to go. Back home, banking stocks remained in watch as latest data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed after a slight moderation in growth in the previous fortnight, bank credit growth picked up in the fortnight ended January 13, 2023, with 16.5 per cent YoY growth to Rs 132.81 trillion.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59342.11, up by 11.21 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 58706.85 and 59644.24. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.86%, IT up by 0.44% and TECK up by 0.30%, while Utilities down by 5.75%, Power down by 5.24%, Oil & Gas down by 3.71%, Energy down by 3.01% and Metal down by 1.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 4.71%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.28%, NTPC up by 1.56%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.39% and Sun Pharma up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 3.49%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.44%, Indusind Bank down by 2.18%, Tata Steel down by 1.95% and Titan Company down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said electronics manufacturing in the country is expected to cross Rs 1.28 lakh crore in the next financial year. The minister said the government is now going to broaden and widen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem with a new production-linked incentive scheme for hearable-wearable, IT hardware and component makers.

He mentioned ‘Electronics manufacturing as a whole, we see next year that we will at least do Rs 1.28 lakh crore. I have already said that we will see mobile phone production reaching Rs 1 lakh crore in 2023-24.’ He added there has been a focus on mobile phones because it is the fastest-growing segment in electronics across the world.

Further, he stated ‘Value addition in manufacturing is a function of scale. First, you need to hit the scale. The component industry is the one which does value addition. Components will not come if the scale of manufacturing is not there. The next stage of our PLI is to get components PLI, hearable-wearable PLI and the IT server PLI.’ He noted the government will do 100 per cent hand-holding of component players to boost the local ecosystem.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17587.15, down by 17.20 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 17446.25 and 17709.15. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 4.70%, Adani Enterprises up by 4.66%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.20%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.49% and NTPC up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 3.44%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.61%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.41%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.28% and JSW Steel down by 2.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 31.95 points or 1.29% to 2,452.07, Jakarta Composite plunged 42.04 points or 0.61% to 6,856.94, Straits Times fell 10.83 points or 0.32% to 3,383.38, Nikkei 225 slipped 14.81 points or 0.05% to 27,367.75 and Hang Seng declined 368.21 points or 1.65% to 22,320.69.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted added 477.93 points or 3.2% to 15,410.86 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 23.57 points or 0.72% to 3,288.38.