Markets trade flat with positive bias in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start amid mixed global cues. Markets are trading flat with positive bias in early deals on Monday as buying in Utilities, Power and Telecom counters aided the sentiments. Some support came in as the government expects vegetable prices to start cooling off from next month with the advent of new crops in the market. Also, the Reserve Bank of India showed India’s foreign exchange reserves snapped a three-week losing streak and increased by $708 million to $602 billion in the week ended August 11. Though upside remained capped amid foreign fund outflows, as foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 266.98 crore on August 18. some cautiousness also came in as retail inflation for farm and rural workers inched up to 7.43 per cent and 7.26 per cent in July compared to 6.31 per cent and 6.16 per cent, respectively, in June this year, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Friday, as traders remain cautious and restrained from making any significant moves after upbeat US data raised fears the US Fed will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation. Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China lowered its one-year loans prime rate by 10 basis points to a record low of 3.45 percent, but kept the five-year loan prime rate unchanged at 4.2 percent.

Back home, private hospitals stocks are in focus as ICRA Ratings in a report said that corporate hospitals are set to clock an 8-10 per cent revenue growth and strong margins in the current fiscal. In stock specific movements, KEC International traded higher after the firm bagged new order worth Rs 1,007 crore. PNB Housing Finance jumped after it fully recovered corporate non-performing account of Rs 784 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65007.74, up by 59.08 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 64852.70 and 65137.06. There were 22 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.49%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.71%, Power up by 1.47%, Telecom up by 0.56%, Healthcare up by 0.56%, TECK up by 0.42%, while Energy down by 0.09%, Oil & Gas down by 0.04% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 1.72%, NTPC up by 1.12%, Axis Bank up by 0.85%, Tata Motors up by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.85%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.49%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.43% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, affirming India’s sovereign rating at ‘Baa3’ with a stable outlook, Moody’s Investors Service has said high growth will support a gradual increase in income levels, which will further contribute to economic strength. Baa3 is the lowest investment grade rating. It expects India’s economic growth to outpace all other G20 economies through at least the next two years, driven by domestic demand. 

It said although potential growth has come down in the past 7-10 years, the Indian economy is likely to continue to grow rapidly by international standards. It said ‘high GDP growth will contribute to gradually rising income levels and overall economic resilience. In turn, this will support gradual fiscal consolidation and government debt stabilization, albeit at high levels. In addition, the financial sector continues to strengthen, alleviating much of the economic and contingent liability risks that had previously driven downward rating pressure’.

Moody’s has affirmed the Government of India’s long-term local and foreign-currency issuer ratings and the local-currency senior unsecured rating at Baa3. It has also affirmed India’s other short-term local-currency rating at P-3. The outlook remains stable. The ratings are looked at by investors as a barometer of a country’s creditworthiness and affect borrowing costs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19314.45, up by 4.30 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 19302.50 and 19368.00. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.23%, Power Grid up by 1.49%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.31%, UPL up by 0.94% and NTPC up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01%, Eicher Motors down by 0.78%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.57% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 247.77 points or 1.38% to 17,703.08, Taiwan Weighted lost 19.6 points or 0.12% to 16,361.71, Straits Times fell 14.23 points or 0.45% to 3,159.70 and Shanghai Composite weakened 11.77 points or 0.38% to 3,120.18. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 217.8 points or 0.69% to 31,668.56, KOSPI increased 14.40 points or 0.57% to 2,518.90 and Jakarta Composite was up by 12.34 points or 0.18% to 6,872.25.