Markets trade flat with positive bias in late morning deals

Indian equity markets were trading flat with positive bias in late morning deals amid weak cues from global markets. Gains in Auto and Telecom stocks helped the headline indices to remain marginally higher, while FMCG and banking stocks traded lower.  Traders were getting some encouragement with Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman -- Vivek Johri’s statement that Rs 1.5 lakh crore in goods and services tax (GST) collection has become the new normal and that the Board is confident that it will cross this figure in the coming year. On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower after the release of U.S. inflation data that came in hotter-than-expected. It further raised expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates to curb inflation. Back home, in the stock specific development, Adani Enterprises gained on strong December quarter earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61062.69, up by 30.43 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 60750.32 and 61109.26. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.64%, Realty up by 0.38%, Telecom up by 0.33%, Consumer Durables up by 0.19% and Metal up by 0.15%, while FMCG down by 0.82%, Power down by 0.74%, Utilities down by 0.63%, Capital Goods down by 0.54% and Oil & Gas down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.94%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.26%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.80%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.75% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.72%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.67%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.69%, Indusind Bank down by 0.62% and HDFC down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Power Minister R K Singh has said that over 17,000 circuit kilometers (ckm) of transmission lines were installed in India in the last nine years to strengthen the electricity distribution system. He made the remarks while addressing delegates from the West African region at an event organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in collaboration with Grid Controller of India (Grid-India) and West African Power Pool (WAPP) in the national capital.

Urging the participants to increase use of green energy in their countries, Singh said the usage of renewable energy is cheaper compared to the conventional form of energy sources. Besides making energy available to their people, these nations must also lay emphasis on the transmission as well as storage of power. The minister said ‘I want to share that we have set up 1,75,000 MW of renewable capacity from 2014 onwards. We have added more than 17,000 ckm of transmission lines to strengthen distribution systems’.

In December 2022, the government launched a plan for building a transmission system for evacuating 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil based energy by 2030. The plan provides transmission service providers with investment opportunities of about Rs 2.44 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17932.35, up by 2.50 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 17853.80 and 17959.30. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 4.47%, Adani Enterprises up by 3.09%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.84%, Reliance Industries up by 1.80% and Adani Ports up by 1.62%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.66%, ONGC down by 1.52%, Britannia down by 1.16%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.15% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.81% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 221.59 points or 1.42% to 15,432.89, Hang Seng declined 272.49 points or 1.29% to 20,841.27, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.84 points or 0.36% to 3,281.44, KOSPI dropped 39.01 points or 1.58% to 2,426.63, Jakarta Composite plunged 59.18 points or 0.86% to 6,882.68. Straits Times fell 35.42 points or 1.07% to 3,282.78 and Nikkei 225 slipped 125.06 points or 0.45% to 27,477.71.