Markets trade slightly higher in early deals

Indian equity markets have made a positive start and are trading slightly higher in early deals on Tuesday tracking firm cues from other Asian markets. Traders were getting encouragement as NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer said India's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has attracted investment worth over Rs 45,000 crore and has also created three lakh jobs. The Indian government launched the PLI scheme in 2020.  Some support also came in on report that India and the European Union (EU) announced the formation of three working groups under the Trade and Technology Council that was set up to deepen strategic ties with the trade bloc. To lay the groundwork, the working group will cover key issues such as strategic technologies, digital governance and connectivity; green and clean energy technologies; and trade, investment and resilient value chains. However, traders remained away from taking big positions in the markets as they are awaiting the outcome of the RBI's monetary policy outcome on Wednesday.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green in early deals on Tuesday, despite weak cues from US markets overnight, ahead of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's speech later in the day. The US markets ended lower on Monday as investors grew increasingly cautious of rising bond yields. Back home, in the stock specific development, Tata Steel slipped after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,502 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2022 (Q3FY23), on account of higher expenses. Meanwhile, all eyes are on December quarter results of three Adani group companies Adani Ports & SEZ, Ambuja Cements and Adani Green Energy, which are scheduled for today. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60570.44, up by 63.54 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 60465.49 and 60655.14. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.03%, while Small cap index up by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.38%, Industrials up by 0.37%, Bankex up by 0.32%, Power up by 0.28% and PSU up by 0.25%, while Metal down by 1.68%, FMCG down by 0.41%, Oil & Gas down by 0.29%, Auto down by 0.24% and Consumer Durables down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.09%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.05%, Indusind Bank up by 0.97%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.88% and TCS up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.74%, ITC down by 1.27%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.64%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.54% and Sun Pharma down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance -- (MoS) Pankaj Chaudhary has said the government is aware of the downside risks to the Indian economy and will closely monitor the current account deficit (CAD) in view of the decline in export growth. Further, Chaudhary said the government has implemented several measures to limit the impact of external factors on India’s inflation and growth.

He stated the price situation of major essential commodities is monitored by the Central Government on a regular basis and corrective action is taken from time to time. Several supply-side measures have been taken by the government to address inflation, like cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel, prohibition of export of wheat products, imposition of export duty on rice, reduction in import duties and cess on pulses, maintenance of buffer stock for onion and pulses.

Besides, he said ‘In the second half of 2022-23, retail inflation has fallen below the tolerance ceiling, portfolio investments have started to return, the rupee has stabilized against the US Dollar, but export growth has declined with the slowing of global growth. The current account deficit thus needs to be closely monitored.’
The country's current account deficit, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, widened to 4.4 per cent of the GDP in the quarter ending September, from 2.2 per cent of the GDP during the April-June period due to a higher trade gap. India's exports contracted by 12.2 per cent to $34.48 billion in December 2022 due to the global demand slowdown, and the trade deficit widened to $23.76 billion during the same period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17776.45, up by 11.85 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 17755.80 and 17811.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.24%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.05%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.12%, Indusind Bank up by 0.82% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.77%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.00%, Hindalco down by 3.21%, ITC down by 1.29%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.88% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 4.33 points or 0.03% to 15,397.15, Hang Seng advanced 244.95 points or 1.15% to 21,467.11, Shanghai Composite strengthened 10.62 points or 0.33% to 3,249.32, KOSPI increased 13.59 points or 0.56% to 2,451.78, Jakarta Composite gained 52.11 points or 0.76% to 6,925.90 and Nikkei 225 surged 16.93 points or 0.06% to 27,710.58. However, Straits Times fell 5.85 points or 0.17% to 3,380.08.