Domestic indices trade under pressure in early deals

Indian equity made flat-to-positive start on Thursday tracking positive trade in Asian counterparts. Soon, markets slipped below neutral lines and extended their losses to trade with around 0.40% cut in early deals as heavy selling in indices such as Realty, Utilities and Telecom, weighted down on the markets. Volatility to remain in the today’s trade ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Foreign fund outflows also dented sentiments in domestic markets. Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 579.82 crore on February 22, NSE’s provisional data showed. Adding more pessimism, the latest Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade data showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined by 15 per cent to $36.75 billion during the April-December this fiscal.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading higher following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, as market participants digested the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting. The Japanese stock market is closed on account of The Emperor's Birthday. Back home, Coal industry stocks were in focus as the coal ministry said that 27 coal mines would be put on sale in the next round of commercial mines auction starting from February 27. In stock specific development, shares of Tata Steel gained after the company acquired more shares of Neelachal Ispat Nigam for Rs 300 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59510.03, down by 234.95 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 59487.83 and 59826.13. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.95%, while Small cap index was down by 0.52%.

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Metal up by 0.55%, while Realty down by 1.38%, Utilities down by 1.33%, Telecom down by 1.07%, Power down by 1.05%, Consumer Durables down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 0.87%, TCS up by 0.68%, Tata Steel up by 0.63%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.31% and Sun Pharma up by 0.26%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.90%, Indusind Bank down by 1.48%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.06%, HDFC down by 0.89% and HDFC Bank down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in its latest data has showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) into India declined by 15 per cent to $36.75 billion during the April-December period of this fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), as compared to the FDI inflows of $43.17 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year. The total FDI inflows, which includes equity inflows, re-invested earnings and other capital, declined to $55.27 billion during the nine months of the current fiscal year as against $60.4 billion in the year-ago period.

The data showed that during April-December 2022-23, Singapore emerged as the top investor with $13 billion FDI. It was followed by Mauritius ($4.7 billion), the US (about $5 billion), the UAE ($3.1 billion), the Netherlands ($2.15 billion), Japan ($1.4 billion), and Cyprus ($1.15 billion).

The computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows of $8 billion during the nine-month period of this fiscal. It was followed by services ($6.6 billion), trading ($4.14 billion), chemicals ($1.5 billion), automobile industry ($1.27 billion) and construction (infrastructure) activities ($1.22 billion).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17472.95, down by 81.35 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 17470.95 and 17585.25. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.01%, JSW Steel up by 0.78%, HCL Technologies up by 0.70%, Tata Steel up by 0.67% and TCS up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.19%, Indusind Bank down by 1.53%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.33%, Titan Company down by 1.27% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 210.48 points or 1.35% to 15,629.25, Hang Seng advanced 101.97 points or 0.5% to 20,525.81, KOSPI increased 24.56 points or 1.01% to 2,442.24, Jakarta Composite gained 9.2 points or 0.13% to 6,819.17 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.22 points or 0.07% to 3,293.37, while Straits Times was down by 23.47 points or 0.72% to 3,276.57.