Domestic markets trade slightly lower in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets were trading slightly lower in late morning deals as investors await macroeconomic data, both domestic and in the U.S. GDP and jobs data from the world's largest economy is due on March 30, which could provide insight into the impact of U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy action on inflation and growth. Further, a cautious undertone also prevailed in markets as a sharp rise in oil prices overnight and amid caution ahead of F&O expiry. Almost all the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into negative territory; however stocks from Metal and Banking counters were the only exception. Stocks from Telecom, Power, Utilities, Oil & Gas and Auto counters were the prominent losers of the session.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as fears of a global banking crisis once again eased following the latest developments in the sector and after three regional US Fed bank presidents said the U.S. banking system was not facing a liquidity crisis. Back home, in the stock specific development, PNC Infratech rallied after the company was declared L1 (lowest) bidder for a highway project for Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORT&H) with a bid project cost of Rs 819 crore.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57631.35, down by 22.51 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 57524.07 and 57949.45. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.56%, while Small cap index down by 0.75%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.51% and Bankex up by 0.07%, while Telecom down by 1.64%, Power down by 1.22%, Utilities down by 1.21%, Oil & Gas down by 1.14% and Auto down by 0.81% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 0.80%, Indusind Bank up by 0.71%, Reliance Industries up by 0.56%, HDFC Bank up by 0.55% and Tata Steel up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.21%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.13%, Tata Motors down by 1.69%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.20% and Asian Paints down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings has kept its forecast for India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth unchanged at 6 per cent in the fiscal year starting April 1, before rising to 6.9 per cent in the following year. In the quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific, S&P saw inflation rate easing to 5 per cent in 2023-24 fiscal, from 6.8 per cent in the current financial year.

The rating agency saw India's GDP likely growing by 7 per cent in the current financial year ending March 31 (2022-23), before slowing to 6 per cent in the next 2023-24 fiscal. India leads, with average growth of 7 per cent in 2024-2026. GDP is projected to rise to 6.9 per cent in the following two financial years -- 2024-25 and 2025-26 and rising to 7.1 per cent in 2026-27.

It further said in India, domestic demand has traditionally led the economy. But it has become more sensitive to the global cycle lately, in part due to rising commodity exports; and its year-on-year GDP growth slowed to 4.4 per cent in the fourth quarter (October-December 2022). It said pronounced core inflation in India suggests little slack in these economies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16954.50, down by 31.20 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 16930.25 and 17061.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 1.42%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.18%, Coal India up by 1.03%, UPL up by 1.02% and ICICI Bank up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 6.50%, Adani Enterprises down by 5.66%, BPCL down by 2.41%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.26% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 170.45 points or 0.87% to 19,738.14, Shanghai Composite strengthened 1.59 points or 0.05% to 3,252.99, KOSPI increased 19.29 points or 0.8% to 2,428.51, Jakarta Composite gained 28.33 points or 0.42% to 6,737.26, Straits Times rose 14.89 points or 0.46% to 3,253.92 and Nikkei 225 surged 41.38 points or 0.15% to 27,518.25. However, Taiwan Weighted lost 128.83 points or 0.82% to 15,701.48.