Domestic indices trade tad higher in volatile session

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Tuesday tracking mostly negative cues from Asian counterparts following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, on continued concerns over the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, which triggered heavy selling, particularly in the banking sector. Traders now await key US inflation data due later in day. Domestic markets are struggling for direction and altering between green and red terrain in early deals. In a volatile trade, now indices are trading slightly higher on account of bargain hunting. Buying at counters such as Consumer Durables, Metal and Capital Goods aided the markets. Traders took encouragement as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the country's goods and services exports are marching ahead to cross $750 billion in the current financial year and talks for expanding rupee trade with certain countries are at an advanced stage.

However, upside remained capped as India’s CPI inflation in February remained above RBI’s tolerance range indicating more rate hikes in future. India's consumer price inflation (CPI)-based inflation stood at 6.44% in February. Investors now looking ahead to the Wholesale inflation data to be out later in the day. In stock specific development, Lupin traded higher as the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) completed an inspection of its Bioresearch Centre in Pune, India, and closed without any observation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58294.20, up by 56.35 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 58114.33 and 58490.98. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.11%, while Small cap index was down by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, Metal up by 0.64%, Capital Goods up by 0.46%, Telecom up by 0.42%, Industrials up by 0.34%, while IT down by 0.65%, Power down by 0.54%, Auto down by 0.52%, Utilities down by 0.46%, Realty down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 1.72%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.47%, Tata Steel up by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.88% and HDFC Bank up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.21%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.46%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.43%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.02% and Asian Paints down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) cooled down slightly to 6.44 per cent in February 2023, as compared to 6.52 per cent in January, mainly on account of a slight easing in prices of food and fuel items. However, it is higher than 6.07 per cent inflation rate in February 2022. Also, the inflation for the month of February remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent for a second consecutive month. Except for November and December 2022, retail inflation has remained above the RBI’s upper tolerance level since January 2022.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in February 2023 stood at 6.72 per cent as against 6.85 per cent in January. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 6.10 per cent in February as against 6.00 per cent in January. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 177.9, 175.6 and 176.8 respectively, in February 2023.

The inflation rate for the food basket was 5.95 per cent in February, lower than 6 per cent in January. It was 5.85 per cent in February last year. As per the data, Vegetable prices remained in deflation territory, contracting 11.6 per cent, though it recorded a double-digit increase in spices (20.20 per cent) and cereals and products (16.73 per cent). A decline in inflation was also witnessed in the oils and fats segment. The price rise remained subdued in segments like meat and fish, eggs, pulses and products, sugar and confectionery and non-alcoholic beverages. On the other hand, the inflation in the fuel and light segment worked out to be 9.90 per cent in February.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17157.60, up by 3.30 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 17112.40 and 17224.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 1.91%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.45%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.30%, Tata Steel up by 1.26% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 4.95%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.15%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.81%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.50% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 581.30 points or 2.09% to 27,251.66, Hang Seng declined 356.57 points or 1.81% to 19,339.40, Taiwan Weighted lost 114.48 points or 0.74% to 15,446.01, Jakarta Composite plunged 99.18 points or 1.46% to 6,687.78, KOSPI dropped 46.40 points or 1.92% to 2,364.20, Shanghai Composite weakened 28.82 points or 0.89% to 3,239.88, while Straits Times was up by 3.44 points or 0.11% to 3,135.81.