Local markets trim opening gains; trade flat in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made an optimistic start on Friday following overnight gains on Wall Street and mostly positive cues from Asian counterparts amid optimism that lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on raising the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid a default. Strong Q4 earnings from domestic companies also supported the markets. But, soon markets trimmed their gains and traded flat in early deals as heavy selling at counters such as Utilities, Oil & Gas and Realty weighed down on the markets. Local equities were struggling for direction with a firmer dollar and higher Treasury yields keeping investors nervous. Investors await more of financial results from India Inc for domestic cues, with Nifty 50 constituents JSW Steel and Power Grid due to post their earnings later in the day. In stock specific developments, GAIL lost after quarterly profit tumbled 77 percent. However, Bata India rose on reporting a 4.5 per cent YoY profit growth in Q4 to Rs 65.55 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61455.02, up by 23.28 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 61374.25 and 61636.82. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.57%, while Small cap index was down by 0.43%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.00%, TECK up by 0.83% and Bankex up by 0.12%, while Utilities down by 1.19%, Oil & Gas down by 1.07%, Realty down by 1.04%, Power down by 1.00% and Energy down by 0.79% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.53%, HCL Technologies up by 1.50%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.25%, TCS up by 0.75% and Wipro up by 0.60%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.35%, Titan Company down by 0.91%, NTPC down by 0.83%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.65% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings has affirmed India’s sovereign rating at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook and said that strengths lie in a fast-growing economy and strong external balance sheet but flagged weak fiscal performance and low GDP per capita. It said the Indian economy is set for real GDP growth of about 6 per cent in 2023, which compares favourably with emerging market peers amid a broad global slowdown. Investment and consumer momentum will underpin solid growth prospects over the next 3-4 years.

The Ratings agency has affirmed its ‘BBB-’ long-term and ‘A-3’ short-term unsolicited foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on India. The outlook on the long-term rating is stable. ‘BBB-’ is the lowest investment grade rating. The stable outlook on the long-term rating reflects S&P’s view that India’s strong economy and healthy revenue growth will support its weak fiscal settings.

S&P said it anticipates solid consumer and investment dynamics will propel real GDP growth to 6 per cent in fiscal 2024 and 6.9 per cent in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.Surging capital expenditure (capex) by the central government and, to some extent, by state governments will help to revive investment and spur construction activity. Based on budget plans for fiscal 2024 and its expectation of strong revenue growth, it believes this support will continue during the current fiscal year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18101.90, down by 28.05 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 18096.50 and 18186.15. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 1.53%, Infosys up by 1.50%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.27%, TCS up by 0.65% and Wipro up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.89%, UPL down by 1.86%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.52%, ITC down by 1.42% and Hindalco down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 213.92 points or 0.69% to 30,787.85, Taiwan Weighted added 62.35 points or 0.39% to 16,164.23, Jakarta Composite gained 37.12 points or 0.55% to 6,700.23, KOSPI increased 20.83 points or 0.82% to 2,536.23, Straits Times rose 12.93 points or 0.40% to 3,195.48 and Shanghai Composite was up by 4.27 points or 0.13% to 3,301.59, while Hang Seng declined 189.69 points or 0.97% to 19,537.56.