Markets remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in red and traded with cut of around half a percent in late morning deals on account of selling by fund and retail investors. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE were also trading in red in the range of 0.75-0.95%. Negative cues from other Asian markets dampened the domestic sentiments.  Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too weighed down sentiments. The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 82.70 against the US dollar, weighed down by a strong American currency. On the sectoral front, Capital Goods, Industrials, Consumer Durables, Telecom and Metal witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while IT, TECK, PSU, Utilities and Power remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red on lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of this week's release of the closely watched US inflation data. Back home, in the stock specific developments, Oil India rallied after the company reported highest-ever quarterly profit of Rs 1,746.1 crore in the October-December quarter (Q3FY23) from Rs 1,244.9 crore, in the year-ago period. However, Balkrishna Industries plunged after its consolidated net profit for the October-December quarter (Q3FY23) dropped 68 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs108.38 crore from Rs 339 crore clocked in the corresponding period last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60394.66, down by 288.04 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 60283.86 and 60740.95. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.95%, while Small cap index down by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.67%, Industrials up by 0.34%, Consumer Durables up by 0.23%, Telecom up by 0.03% and Metal up by 0.02%, while IT down by 1.54%, TECK down by 1.29%, PSU down by 0.93%, Utilities down by 0.85% and Power down by 0.79% were the losing top indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan up by 1.83%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.61%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.93%, Power Grid up by 0.75% and NTPC up by 0.73%. On the flip side, SBI down by 2.97%, Infosys down by 2.12%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.64%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.26% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has said that the decline in exports of apparel items from China to Japan provides a huge opportunity for Indian companies to push their shipments in Tokyo. It said the Indian garment industry is blessed with the largest raw material availability of cotton, jute, silk and wool in the world and is supported by the world's second largest spinning and weaving capacity. It noted that this gives the industry an opportunity for a 95 per cent domestic value addition enabling India to offer to the world a complete value chain solution from farm to fashion and hence extending as a competitive edge by shortened lead times to reach buyers.

AEPC Chairman Naren Goenka said ‘we hold a strong business opportunity in Japan, reflected by the fact that China, which has been a dominant garment supplier to Japan, has witnessed a decline in the past 5 years giving significant advantage to India.’ He said garment fraternity in both the countries have geared up to increase this trade taking advantage of duty-free access for Indian ready-made garments post Indo-Japan free trade pact.

Goenka said that Japan is the fourth largest readymade garment importer in the world, there is a huge untapped trade potential in the ready made garments (RMG) sector. He also said the government is coming up with a production-linked incentive scheme which will majorly include RMGs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17771.15, down by 85.35 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 17735.15 and 17880.70. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.53%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.50%, Eicher Motors up by 1.37% and Dr. Reddy's up by 0.82%. On the flip side, SBI down by 3.00%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.84%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.60%, Infosys down by 2.17% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 50.51 points or 0.33% to 15,536.14, Hang Seng declined 44.48 points or 0.21% to 21,145.94, KOSPI dropped 19.7 points or 0.8% to 2,450.03, Straits Times fell 26.47 points or 0.79% to 3,334.22 and Nikkei 225 slipped 247.81 points or 0.9% to 27,423.17. However, Shanghai Composite strengthened 21.58 points or 0.66% to 3,282.25 and Jakarta Composite gained 23.54 points or 0.34% to 6,903.87.