Markets trade flat with negative bias in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains and traded flat with negative bias in morning deals as rising inflation concerns due to a surge in oil prices after OPEC+'s surprise output cut weighed on investor sentiment. Traders also remained cautious with the latest public debt management report showing that the government’s total liabilities rose to Rs 150.95 lakh crore in December quarter from Rs 147.19 lakh crore in the three months ended September 2022. Moreover, the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed that the central government’s fiscal deficit touched 82.8 per cent of the full-year target at the end of February. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue collection during April-February period stood at Rs 14.53 lakh crore. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after an inflation gauge the Fed follows closely rose slightly less than anticipated in February, helping spur optimism the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates at its next meeting in early May.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58961.04, down by 30.48 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 58842.89 and 59204.82. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 1.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.51%, Auto up by 1.49%, PSU up by 0.67%, Industrials up by 0.61% and Capital Goods up by 0.54%, while IT down by 0.38%, FMCG down by 0.30%, TECK down by 0.25% and Metal down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47%, NTPC up by 1.23%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.19% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.29%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.15%, Infosys down by 0.80%, TCS down by 0.62% and ICICI Bank down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry in its latest report has said that the government's total liabilities rose to Rs 150.95 lakh crore in December quarter of last financial year (Q3FY23) from Rs 147.19 lakh crore in the three months ended September 2022. The increase reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2.6 per cent in October-December 2022-23.

In absolute terms, the total liabilities, including liabilities under the 'Public Account' of the government, jumped to Rs 1,50,95,970.8 crore at the end of December 2022. As of September 30, the total liabilities stood at Rs 1,47,19,572.2 crore.

It mentioned public debt accounted for 89 per cent of the total outstanding liabilities in December quarter, compared to 89.1 per cent at the end of September. Nearly 28.29 per cent of the outstanding dated securities had a residual maturity of less than 5 years.Further, During Q3 of FY23, it said, the Centre raised an amount worth Rs 3,51,000 crore through dated securities, as against notified amount of Rs 3,18,000 crore in the borrowing calendar. During the quarter an amount of Rs 85,377.9 crore due for redemption was repaid on maturity date.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17357.70, down by 2.05 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 17325.50 and 17428.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.91%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.92%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.52%, Eicher Motors up by 2.36% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.20%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.57%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.92%, JSW Steel down by 1.37%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.30% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 18.63 points or 0.12% to 15,868.06, Shanghai Composite strengthened 18.2 points or 0.55% to 3,291.06, Jakarta Composite gained 12.28 points or 0.18% to 6,817.56, Straits Times rose 20.8 points or 0.63% to 3,279.70 and Nikkei 225 surged 155.86 points or 0.55% to 28,197.34.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 120.57 points or 0.59% to 20,279.54 and KOSPI dropped 4.17 points or 0.17% to 2,472.69.