Indices continue to trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity indices continued to trade in red in morning deals, dragged by losses in IT, TECK and FMCG stocks. Sentiments remained downbeat amid an overall weak trend in the global markets as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the Union Budget presentation and interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve. Also, continuous foreign funds outflow played spoilsport for the markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 6,792.80 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Traders overlooked the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) statement that inflation in India is expected to come down from 6.8 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 31 to 5 percent the next fiscal, and then drop further to 4 percent in 2024. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower as caution crept in ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points, but traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59244.94, down by 255.47 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 59104.59 and 59787.63. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.70%, Telecom up by 1.25%, Utilities up by 1.18%, Power up by 1.14% and Metal up by 1.07%, while IT down by 1.12%, TECK down by 0.98%, FMCG down by 0.63%, Energy down by 0.38% and Healthcare down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 2.13%, SBI up by 1.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.02%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.93% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.38%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.77%, HCL Technologies down by 1.74%, Infosys down by 1.35% and Indusind Bank down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, CARE Advisory Research and Training (CareEdge Research) in its report has said with healthy demand drivers for cement - urban housing, government's infrastructure and rural development thrust, the industry is expected to close FY23 with a production of 380-390 million ton. It mentioned, in FY22, production of cement was at 356 million tonnes, up 20 per cent yoy as compared with 296 million tonnes in FY21 due to the low base effect.

According to the report, India's cement production and consumption both grew by 11 per cent in FY23 (April-November) on a yoy basis, driven by the government's push for infrastructure development and increased real estate activity.

Care Advisory’s Director -- Tanvi Shah said the cement industry is expected to see a continued uptrend in volume growth in the near term. In FY23, the volume growth is expected to be around 8-9 per cent owing to renewed demand in the housing and infrastructure segment coupled with the government's continued focus on infrastructure development in light of Central elections in 2024. Despite the uptrend in consumption, the profitability of the cement players is expected to decline by 400-500bps in FY23 due to elevated power and fuel cost.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17574.15, down by 74.80 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 17537.55 and 17735.70. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.60%, BPCL up by 2.95%, UPL up by 2.27%, Power Grid Corp up by 2.05% and JSW Steel up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.42%, Britannia Industries down by 2.76%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.07%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.77% and HCL Technologies down by 1.71% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 212.2 points or 1.37% to 15,281.62, Hang Seng declined 254.29 points or 1.15% to 21,815.44, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.68 points or 0.42% to 3,255.64, KOSPI dropped 18.82 points or 0.77% to 2,431.65, Jakarta Composite plunged 31.07 points or 0.45% to 6,841.41, Straits Times fell 11.96 points or 0.35% to 3,366.33 and Nikkei 225 slipped 41.6 points or 0.15% to 27,391.80.