Benchmarks trade marginally lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally lower in morning deals, amid negative global cues. Traders remained cautious as a study by researchers at the Reserve Bank of India said the surging prices of tomatoes can potentially disrupt India's inflation trajectory. Traders overlooked report stating that concerns over the performance of southwest monsoon this year eased to a large extent on July 06, with rainfall deficiency declining to just 5% from over 40% a fortnight ago, and cumulative rainfall being predicted to reach normal level in the next 48 hours. Traders also paid no heed towards the rating agency Icra has estimated securitisation volumes, originated primarily by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies (HFCs), at Rs. 53,000 crore in Q1 FY2024, reflecting a strong growth of 60 per cent over the Rs. 33,000 crore securitised in Q1 FY2023. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower as upbeat U.S. private payrolls and service sector data added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates following Wednesday's hawkish Federal Reserve minutes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65745.53, down by 40.11 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 65491.26 and 65898.98. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.40%, Energy up by 0.38%, Oil & Gas up by 0.35%, Telecom up by 0.23% and Auto up by 0.22%, while Utilities down by 0.37%, Bankex down by 0.37%, Power down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.20% and PSU down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.63%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.60%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.54% and Reliance Industries up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.10%, Indusind Bank down by 1.03%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.93%, Nestle down by 0.73% and ICICI Bank down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India and The Public Service Division, of the Republic of Singapore have signed a Protocol Document on July 6, 2023, extending for five years the current MoU on Cooperation in the field of Personnel Management and Public Administration till 2028.

The MoU aims at strengthening the partnership between the two countries through various forms of cooperation between both countries’ Public Service officers. 
The cooperation in areas such as Administrative Reforms & Public Sector Transformation, Public Service Delivery, Leadership and Talent Development, E-Governance, Capacity Building and Training form part of the areas to be covered under the activities of MoU.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19484.25, down by 13.05 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 19421.60 and 19523.60. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 2.70%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.70%, SBI Life Insuran up by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.69% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.10%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.01%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.96%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.89% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.84% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 79.54 points or 0.47% to 16,682.63, Hang Seng declined 91.03 points or 0.49% to 18,442.02, Shanghai Composite weakened 7.02 points or 0.22% to 3,198.55, KOSPI dropped 30.78 points or 1.2% to 2,525.51, Jakarta Composite plunged 26.93 points or 0.4% to 6,730.40, Straits Times fell 15.88 points or 0.5% to 3,134.55 and Nikkei 225 slipped 152.88 points or 0.47% to 32,620.14,