Domestic indices trade lower in early deals

Indian equities made sluggish start on Thursday mirroring weak global cues on concerns over the Fed's rate-hike trajectory. Also, firmer crude oil prices overnight dragged the markets lower. There is some volatility in the markets ahead of weekly F&O expiry later in the day. Domestic indices are trading lower with cut of around 0.30% each in early deals. Continued selling by foreign investors dampened sentiments in the domestic markets. As per provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 736.82 crore on February 8. A drop in Adani Group company stocks pulled indexes down further. Though, buying in Industrials and Capital Goods stocks limited the downside. Meanwhile, rupee opened weaker against dollar weighed by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials and higher oil prices.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, on continuing concerns over the outlook for interest rates and a global economic slowdown. Back home, in stock specific development, Tata Consultancy Services edged up on securing an over 600 million euro (about $723 million) contract from U.K.'s Phoenix Group.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60512.83, down by 150.96 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 60472.81 and 60725.61. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.17%, while Small cap index was down by 0.16%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.68% and Capital Goods up by 0.56%, while Utilities down by 0.91%, Oil & Gas down by 0.86%, Energy down by 0.84%, Telecom down by 0.71%, Power down by 0.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.06%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.88%, Power Grid up by 0.57%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.50% and Asian Paints up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.23%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.20%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.86% and SBI down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting that the government has undertaken various steps to boost industrial performance, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash has said that the industrial growth during 2021-22 was 11.7% over the corresponding period of the last year. He noted that whereas the annual average growth of IIP was 3.4% and 3.2% respectively during the period 2009-14 (Base year: 2004-05) and 2014-19 (Base Year: 2011-12). The steps include the introduction of Goods and Services Tax, reduction in Corporate tax, interventions to improve ease of doing business, measures for reduction in compliance burden, policy measures to boost domestic manufacturing through public procurement orders, Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP), and FDI policy reforms.

He said the series of measures taken by the Government to improve the economic situation and convert the disruption caused by COVID-19 into an opportunity for growth includes Atmanirbhar packages, the introduction of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme across fourteen sectors to augment the manufacturing capacity, investment opportunities under National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), the soft launch of National Single Window System (NSWS), etc. He further said an institutional mechanism to fast-track investments has been put in place, in the form of Project Development Cells (PDCs) in all concerned Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India.

He also said the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), with a provision of Rs 3 lakh crore which has now increased to Rs 5 lakh crore, is in the form of a fully guaranteed emergency credit line to monitor lending institutions. Financial support has been given to the stressed MSMEs with an infusion of Rs 20,000 crore equity support through Subordinate Debt. Fund of Funds created to infuse equity worth Rs 50,000 crore in the MSME Sector by setting up a Rs 10,000 crore Corpus Fund.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17809.15, down by 62.55 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 17779.80 and 17887.75. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.23%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.74%, Power Grid up by 0.68%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.58% and SBI Life Insurance up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 6.89%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.01%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.29%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.31% and Tata Motors down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 89.7 points or 0.32% to 27,516.76, Straits Times fell 29.88 points or 0.88% to 3,358.64, Taiwan Weighted lost 19.76 points or 0.13% to 15,598.41 and KOSPI dropped 2.49 points or 0.1% to 2,481.15. on the other hand, Hang Seng advanced 73.27 points or 0.34% to 21,356.79, Shanghai Composite strengthened 19.91 points or 0.61% to 3,252.02 and Jakarta Composite gained 4.49 points or 0.06% to 6,944.61.