Benchmarks continue to trade marginally in green in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in green in morning deals, helped by buying in Auto, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods counters and an overall positive trend in global markets. Traders took some support with Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) G C Murmu’s statement that the blue economy occupies a vital position in India's economic growth and it could well be the next multiplier of GDP and well-being, provided sustainability and socio-economic welfare are kept at the centre stage. However, gains remain capped as investors remained on sidelines ahead of the gross domestic product (GDP) data of the country for the third quarter of October-December of FY23 to be release later in the day. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green tracking small gains on Wall Street, while the U.S. dollar paused after a sharp rally as month-end flows lift sentiment and investors adjust to expectations of more interest rate hikes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59364.30, up by 75.95 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 59227.65 and 59483.72. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.09%, Consumer Durables up by 1.03%, Capital Goods up by 0.64%, Industrials up by 0.57% and Realty up by 0.41%, while Metal down by 1.20%, Energy down by 0.91%, Oil & Gas down by 0.88%, FMCG down by 0.19% and Utilities down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.44%, Tata Motors up by 1.45%, Titan Co up by 0.89%, HDFC up by 0.79% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.77%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.82%, Reliance Industries down by 0.79%, Tata Steel down by 0.42%, SBI down by 0.39% and Indusind Bank down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Fertiliser Ministry in its latest data showed that the country's fertiliser imports rose by 3.9 per cent to 19.04 lakh tonnes in January this year compared to the year-ago period.  The country imported 18.33 lakh tonnes of fertilisers during January 2022. According to the latest data, of the total imports of 19.04 lakh tonne, 10.65 lakh tonnes of urea, 5.62 lakh tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), 1.14 lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 1.63 lakh tonnes of complexes were imported. In the same month of the previous year, the country imported 12.48 lakh tonnes of urea, 2.45 lakh tonnes of DAP and 3.40 lakh tonnes of MoP. The quantity of MoP was for both agriculture and industrial use.

It showed the domestic fertiliser production during January this year also rose to 39.14 lakh tonnes when compared with 32.16 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. In the international market, there has been a falling trend in fertiliser prices. Urea prices (freight on board) showed a decline of 44.26 per cent to $500 per tonne in January this year from $897 per tonne in the year-ago period. Similarly, global prices of DAP fell by 26.28 per cent to $679 per tonne, phosphoric acid by 11.65 per cent to $1175 per tonne, and Ammonia rates by about 17.42 per cent to $929 per tonne in January this year.

Global Sulphur price also showed a decline of 52.51 per cent to $161 per tonne in January this year, from the year-ago period. However, the global price of MoP increased by about 32.58 per cent to $590 per tonne in January this year from $445 per tonne in the year-ago period. Even prices of Rock Phosphate increased by about 68.06 per cent to $242 per tonne in January from $144 per tonne in the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17411.85, up by 19.15 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 17367.40 and 17440.45. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.66%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.30%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.27%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.52% and Tata Motors up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.04%, Coal India down by 1.82%, Hindalco down by 1.58%, ITC down by 0.93% and BPCL down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times rose 16.94 points or 0.52% to 3,280.18, Nikkei 225 surged 37.05 points or 0.13% to 27,461.01, Hang Seng advanced 82.11 points or 0.41% to 20,025.62, Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.37 points or 0.07% to 3,260.40 and KOSPI increased 15.38 points or 0.64% to 2,418.02.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 6.45 points or 0.09% to 6,848.33 and Taiwan Weighted lost 111.62 points or 0.72% to 15,503.79.