Sensex, Nifty turn negative in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks turned negative in early afternoon deals, on the back of selling at Oil & Gas and Utilities counters, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were pessimistic, amid a private report stating that India’s economic activity cooled off at the start of the year as higher borrowing costs tempered demand at home and abroad, signaling more pain ahead as the global economy slows down. Besides, traders took note of a report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has predicted that 2023 would probably be characterised by a milder global slowdown than anticipated earlier, but added that the trajectory remains unpredictable.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged, as widely expected, despite the economy struggling to gain traction. The People's Bank of China retained its one-year loan prime rate, or LPR, at 3.65 percent. Likewise, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was kept unchanged at 4.30 percent. Previously, the bank had reduced the five-year LPR rate by 15 basis points each in May and August 2022, and by 5 basis points in January 2022. The one-year LPR was last lowered in August 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60984.88, down by 17.69 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 60937.97 and 61290.19. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.62%, TECK up by 0.52%, Metal up by 0.38%, Auto up by 0.38% and Telecom up by 0.06%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.59%, Utilities down by 0.53%, Bankex down by 0.48%, Energy down by 0.44% and Healthcare down by 0.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 2.58%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.61%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.41%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 0.96% and Infosys up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 0.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.74%, Axis Bank down by 0.72%, SBI down by 0.68% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to give a boost to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the government will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years.

He stated ‘When PM approved the Semicon India program on Jan 1, 2022, we promised that within the next 14-16 months, we'll work hard, learn from the world's experience and come out with a program which will take the country on a good semiconductor journey for next 10 years.’

The government launched a programme called Semicon India Programme in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme seeks to support the development of the semiconductors and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India. He stated ‘As Government, we promised you and this 14-16 months period begins on March 1 this year. You will see some good news in the coming weeks.’ He highlighted that global companies have shown keen interest in India's semiconductor manufacturing, which is important to meet the country's strategic needs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17931.65, down by 12.55 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 17902.50 and 18004.35. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 2.60%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.66%, Divi's Lab up by 1.63%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35% and Hindalco up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 5.90%, Adani Enterprises down by 5.55%, Nestle down by 1.01%, BPCL down by 0.93% and Britannia Industries down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 229.38 points or 1.09% to 20,949.19, Taiwan Weighted added 71.53 points or 0.46% to 15,551.23, Shanghai Composite strengthened 65.72 points or 2% to 3,289.74, Nikkei 225 surged 18.81 points or 0.07% to 27,531.94 and KOSPI increased 3.91 points or 0.16% to 2,455.12, while Straits Times fell 12.36 points or 0.37% to 3,316.01 and Jakarta Composite plunged 15.09 points or 0.22% to 6,880.62.