Benchmarks trade marginally lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased initial gains and were trading marginally lower in morning deals, as investors remained cautious after a weak revenue outlook from HCL Technologies and ahead of the quarterly earnings of the country's top firm by market capitalisation, Reliance Industries. Traders also remained anxious as retail inflation for farm labour and rural workers rose marginally to 7.01 percent and 6.94 percent, respectively, in March compared to February this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. Some concern also came as a report by Acuite Ratings stated that India's economic activity is expected to decline and witness a lower growth print in FY24 on the back of a buoyancy in the services sector, moderation in inflation and the consistency in public sector capital expenditure.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in red as investors fretted about an upcoming recession. Investors also fretted about negotiations in Washington to raise the U.S. government debt ceiling. Back home, baking stocks remained in focus as Reserve Bank of India data showed that banking system’s credit rose by 15.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) basis in the fortnight ended April 7 to Rs 138.45 trillion, while advances grew by Rs 1.7 trillion in the reporting fortnight.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59573.27, down by 59.08 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 59533.79 and 59781.36. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.47%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.90%, TECK up by 0.15%, IT up by 0.11%, FMCG up by 0.11% and Healthcare up by 0.10%, while Realty down by 2.22%, Metal down by 1.33%, Capital Goods down by 0.79%, Auto down by 0.77% and Industrials down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 0.75%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.73%, Asian Paints up by 0.61%, Wipro up by 0.59% and ICICI Bank up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.31%, Tata Steel down by 1.76%, Tata Motors down by 1.57%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.21% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the labour ministry has said that retail inflation for farm labour and rural workers rose marginally to 7.01 percent and 6.94 percent, respectively, in March compared to February this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items.

It mentioned ‘Point-to-point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index-agricultural labourers) and CPI-RL (rural labourers) stood at 7.01 per cent & 6.94 per cent in March 2023 compared to 6.94 per cent & 6.87 per cent, respectively, in February 2023, and 6.09 per cent and 6.33 per cent respectively during the corresponding month (March 2022) of the previous year.’

Further, it stated that the food inflation stood at 7.12 per cent and 7.07 per cent in March 2023 compared to 6.82 per cent and 6.68 per cent, respectively, in February 2023 and 4.91 per cent and 4.88 per cent, respectively, during the corresponding month of the previous year.

The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers for March 2023 increased by 4 points each to stand at 1,175 and 1,186 points, respectively. The CPI-AL and CPI-RL for February 2023 stood at 1,171 points and 1,182 points, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17600.70, down by 23.75 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 17589.05 and 17663.20. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.08%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.89%, Divi's Lab up by 0.81%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.69% and HCL Technologies up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.29%, Tata Steel down by 1.81%, Hindalco down by 1.64%, Tata Motors down by 1.63% and Adani Enterprises down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 73.86 points or 0.47% to 15,633.66, Hang Seng declined 129.59 points or 0.64% to 20,267.38, Shanghai Composite weakened 37.38 points or 1.12% to 3,329.65, KOSPI dropped 20.28 points or 0.79% to 2,542.83, Straits Times fell 7.34 points or 0.22% to 3,306.07 and Nikkei 225 slipped 87.79 points or 0.31% to 28,569.78.