Markets trim opening gains; trade flat in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks started the session on optimistic note following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight as well as firm trade in Asian counterparts as traders react positively the China's Politburo decision to further support its ailing property sector with an economic stimulus. Soon, markets trimmed gains and trading flat in early deals as traders preferred to remain on sidelines ahead to the US Fed's interest-rate decision due on Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Friday. Domestically, traders took note of the commerce ministry’s statement that India and the UK have concluded the 11th round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) and the next round of talks will take place in the coming months. 

Though, some cautiousness came in amid foreign fund outflows. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 82.96 crore on July 24. Traders are also concerned with a private report that the recent rise in inflation has prompted Indian investors to push back rate cut expectations by at least a quarter to the middle of 2024, with a sustained rise in prices likely to prompt a further repricing. 

On the sectoral front, aviation industry stocks are in focus as the government of India granted in-principle approval for the establishment of 21 new Greenfield Airports. These airports will be set up in different regions of the country to enhance connectivity and boost air travel accessibility. In stock specific development, ITC leading the losers after the company announced demerger of its hotels business. However, Tata Motors hit record high ahead of Q1FY24 results today.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66358.97, down by 25.81 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 66341.33 and 66559.29. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.40%, Utilities up by 1.29%, Power up by 0.96%, Realty up by 0.94% and Auto up by 0.84% while, FMCG down by 0.95%, IT down by 0.26% and TECK down by 0.22% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 1.79%, JSW Steel up by 1.69%, Tata Motors up by 1.57%, NTPC up by 1.28% and Tata Steel up by 1.21%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.53%, Asian Paints down by 1.12%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.88%, Axis Bank down by 0.67% and Infosys down by 0.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an encouraging note, the commerce ministry has said that India and the UK have concluded the 11th round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA). India and the UK are working to iron out differences on issues like intellectual property rights (IPRs) and rules of origin under the agreement, negotiations for which were started in January 2021.

It said ‘On July 18, the UK and India concluded the eleventh round of talks for the UK-India FTA. Technical discussions were held across nine policy areas over 42 separate sessions. They included detailed draft treaty text discussions in these policy areas’. On July 10-11, 2023, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Government of India, Piyush Goyal, visited the UK as part of the eleventh round of the UK-India FTA negotiations. He discussed ways to make progress on the FTA negotiations and wider trade and investment opportunities for the UK and India. 

Commerce Secretary, Government of India, Sunil Barthwal, also visited the UK during the round. He took stock of the progress made in the eleventh round of negotiations. The twelfth round of negotiations is due to take place in the coming months. Meanwhile, bilateral trade between the countries has increased to $20.36 billion in 2022-23 from $17.5 billion in 2021-22.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19673.50, up by 1.15 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 19671.30 and 19729.35. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 1.85%, JSW Steel up by 1.73%, Hindalco up by 1.56%, Tata Motors up by 1.44% and NTPC up by 1.33%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.59%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.68%, Asian Paints down by 1.12%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.02% and UPL down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng jumped 595.46 points or 3.09% to 19,263.61, Taiwan Weighted surged 195.55 points or 1.13% to 17,229.16, Shanghai Composite strengthened 59.73 points or 1.85% to 3,223.89, Jakarta Composite advanced 30.74 points or 0.44% to 6,930.14, Straits Times rose 4.89 points or 0.15% to 3,270.03 and KOSPI was up by 3.55 points or 0.13% to 2,632.08, while Nikkei 225 slipped 140.73 points or 0.43% to 32,560.21.