Markets trim opening losses; trade flat with negative bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-down opening on last trading session of the week mirroring weakness in the global markets amid concerns about interest rate hikes by the US Fed after the recent release of upbeat US economic data. Soon, domestic indices managed to trim most of their losses and are trading flat with negative bias in early deals on account of buying in beat down but fundamentally strong stocks. Some support came in with a private report that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at 6.2 per cent in FY24 as drivers of domestic demand remain intact amid fears of an impending slowdown. On the sectoral front, metal stocks were buzzing after steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that large scale augmentation would be done to double steel production from the existing 150 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030. In stock specific development, Ultratech Cement leading the gainers on the bourses after it commissioned 1.30 mtpa brownfield cement capacity at Hirmi, Chhattisgarh and 2.80 mtpa greenfield grinding capacity at Cuttack, Odisha.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61241.41, down by 78.10 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 60921.84 and 61243.18. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.60%, Capital Goods up by 0.55%, Industrials up by 0.45%, Utilities up by 0.42%, Power up by 0.38%, while Realty down by 0.69%, IT down by 0.63%, TECK down by 0.56%, Healthcare down by 0.54%, Bankex down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.11%, Tata Steel up by 0.80%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.73%, Asian Paints up by 0.68% and Reliance Industries up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.82%, Wipro down by 1.01%, Indusind Bank down by 0.98%, HCL Technologies down by 0.84% and Infosys down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in its report has said that India’s merchandise exports have recorded a healthy growth in both value and volume terms in 2022. The outbound shipments rose by 14.6 per cent year-on-year to $453.3 billion in 2022. It said ‘the study found that products where exports increased to cover a value of $315.9 billion (69.8 per cent of total merchandise exports). But, products whose export quantities increased over the previous year represent $285.6 billion (63 per cent of total exports)’.

Major product categories which have recorded growth in both value and volume terms include petroleum products, sugar, and basmati rice. Petroleum products, including diesel, gasoline and naphtha represent an export value of $94 billion. The unit price rose between 50-115 per cent in one year. The high unit prices may be primarily due to the high prices of crude oil. Sugar saw a unit value increase of 15 per cent, with exports of over $5 billion.

As per the report, gold jewelry and similar products with an export value of about $9 billion saw lower unit value realization in 2022. Similarly, hot rolled steel products with exports of $769 million in 2022 saw a decline of 26.2 per cent in unit value realization. Exports in 2022 saw a healthy trend with products covering 63 per cent of export value and saw an increase in the quantity of export. Further products where India's exports have been traditionally strong but now feeling regulatory heat in a few countries or low global demand include shrimps, and iron-ore pellets.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18013.85, down by 22.00 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 17927.45 and 18023.55. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.02%, Grasim Industries up by 1.69%, BPCL up by 1.20%, JSW Steel up by 0.93% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.85%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.54%, Cipla down by 1.12%, HCL Technologies down by 0.99% and SBI Life Insurance down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 177.99 points or 0.64% to 27,518.45, Hang Seng declined 121.37 points or 0.58% to 20,866.30, Taiwan Weighted lost 78.04 points or 0.5% to 15,472.46, KOSPI dropped 17.78 points or 0.72% to 2,457.70, Shanghai Composite weakened 5.21 points or 0.16% to 3,243.82 and Jakarta Composite plunged 4.2 points or 0.06% to 6,891.46, while Straits Times was up by 14.2 points or 0.43% to 3,325.43.