Domestic indices trade lower in late morning deals

Domestic equity Indices were trading lower with cut of around quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of selling in IT and FMCG sectors’ stocks.  There were some cautiousness in the markets ahead of three-day the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting starting from today (April 03) and outcome on April 06. There are expectations that the RBI may go in for 25 basis points hike in benchmark interest rate, probably the last in the current monetary tightening cycle that began in May 2022. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 18 paise to 82.39 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from global markets on Friday, amid easing worries about a banking crisis. Back home, in the stock specific developments, shares of upstream oil and gas companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India, surged as oil prices rose sharply after OPEC+ announced surprise output cuts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58804.89, down by 186.63 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 58793.08 and 59204.82. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17%, while Small cap index up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.28%, Auto up by 1.13%, PSU up by 0.58%, Consumer Durables up by 0.37% and Industrials up by 0.22%, while IT down by 0.63%, FMCG down by 0.62%, TECK down by 0.49%, Power down by 0.49% and Utilities down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.33%, NTPC up by 1.03%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.93%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.79% and HCL up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.51%, Infosys down by 1.28%, ITC down by 0.94%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.88% and ICICI Bank down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries recorded an almost flat growth rate of 6 percent in February 2023 as against 5.9 percent in the same month last year. The growth in February is lowest in the last three months. The output of core sectors had increased by 8.9 percent in January 2023 and 7 percent in December 2022. It was 5.7 percent in November 2022. Barring crude oil, all the segments posted an increase in production. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 8.5 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 15.2 per cent during April to February 2022-23 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production, having 6.88 per cent weight increased by 3.2 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 1.5 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Petroleum Refinery production, having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 3.3 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 5.2 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizers production, having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 22.2 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 11.5 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production, having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 6.9 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 7.5 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 7.3 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 9.7 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation, having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 7.6 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 9.9 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. However, crude oil production, having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 4.9 per cent in February, 2023 over February, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 1.6 per cent during April to February, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17321.60, down by 38.15 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 17312.75 and 17428.05. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.34%, ONGC up by 2.88%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.39%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.03% and Eicher Motors up by 1.92%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.85%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.47%, JSW Steel down by 1.48%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.47% and Hindalco down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite strengthened 15.18 points or 0.46% to 3,288.04, Jakarta Composite gained 10.52 points or 0.15% to 6,815.80, Straits Times rose 19.51 points or 0.6% to 3,278.41 and Nikkei 225 surged 146.67 points or 0.52% to 28,188.15, However, Hang Seng declined 161 points or 0.79% to 20,239.1 and KOSPI dropped 7.16 points or 0.29% to 2,469.70.