Key gauges trim losses in morning deals

Domestic equity markets trimmed most of their opening losses in morning deals, supported by gains across index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and Maruti Suzuki among others. Traders took some support with the provisional data available with NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,305.30 crore on February 14, 2023. Some support also came as India's foodgrain production is estimated at an all-time high of 323.55 million tonnes in the current crop year ending June, driven by the projection of a record output of rice, wheat and pulses. Traders took a note of Vivek Johri, CBIC Chairman’s statement that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will use the data of electric meters and property tax to increase the base of goods and services tax (GST).

On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower following U.S. inflation data and remarks from central bank officials that have investors worrying interest rates are going to be higher for longer. Back home, stocks related to power sector remained in watch with Union Power Minister R K Singh’s statement that over 17,000 circuit kilometers of transmission lines were installed in India in the last nine years to strengthen the electricity distribution system.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60989.51, down by 42.75 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 60750.32 and 61057.73. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.73%, Metal up by 0.66%, Auto up by 0.50%, Telecom up by 0.19% and Consumer Durables up by 0.11%, while FMCG down by 1.06%, Power down by 0.72%, Utilities down by 0.68%, Capital Goods down by 0.66% and Industrials down by 0.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.65%, Tata Steel up by 1.05%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.84% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.67%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.91%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.47%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.94%, HDFC down by 0.65% and Sun Pharma down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Icra has said the commercial vehicle industry volume is expected to grow in the range of 7-10 per cent in the next financial year (FY24). It stated the volume growth would be on account of government infrastructure spending, replacement demand, back-to-school and office scenarios and e-commerce expansion.

It noted that the growth trends were visible in third quarter of the current fiscal, with wholesale dispatches reporting a growth of 16 per cent on a year-on-year basis, supported by replacement demand, improvement in the macroeconomic environment, and healthy traction in the underlying industries such as steel, cement, mining, automobiles, and e-commerce. It also noted freight rates continued to hold up, which, coupled with healthy freight availability, is supporting fleet operator viability.

Besides, it said the growth trends continued to be broad-based across all the three sub-segments - medium & heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV), light commercial vehicles (LCV), and buses, in the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17921.75, down by 8.10 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 17853.80 and 17939.55. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 2.70%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.15%, Reliance Industries up by 1.61% and Tata Steel up by 1.05%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.54%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.17%, ONGC down by 1.04% and Britannia Industries down by 1.00% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 236.91 points or 1.51% to 15,417.57, Hang Seng declined 272.98 points or 1.31% to 20,840.78, Shanghai Composite weakened 10.67 points or 0.33% to 3,282.61, KOSPI dropped 33.29 points or 1.35% to 2,432.35, Jakarta Composite plunged 59.18 points or 0.86% to 6,882.68, Straits Times fell 33.86 points or 1.02% to 3,284.34 and Nikkei 225 slipped 132.48 points or 0.48% to 27,470.29.