Markets pare some gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets pared some of their gains in late morning deals on account of selling in Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries and TCS. However, indices continued to trade in green amid positive global market trends and fresh foreign fund inflows. According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 614.32 crore on August 23. Some support came in as the rupee registered the highest single-day gain in nearly two months and appreciated by 25 paise to 82.47 against the US dollar amid a weakening dollar. Space industry related stocks were in focus as India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole on Wednesday, making it the first country to land on the uncharted surface.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, following positive cues from US markets overnight, as traders reacted to weak US PMI data that raised hopes the US Fed would end its tightening campaign to avert a recession. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  Realty, Power, Utilities, Industrials and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed only in Auto and Energy.    

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65515.88, up by 82.58 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 65508.05 and 65913.77. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.55%, while Small cap index up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.24%, Power up by 0.76%, Utilities up by 0.67%, Industrials up by 0.58% and Capital Goods up by 0.53%, while Auto down by 0.05% and Energy down by 0.02% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.83%, Asian Paints up by 1.27%, Axis Bank up by 1.00%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.95% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.84%. On the flip side, JIO Financial down by 4.99%, TCS down by 0.58%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.57%, Reliance Industries down by 0.39% and NTPC down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Central Electricity Authority Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad has said that it is not true that India is not reducing coal-based power generation capacity in the energy mix and said the country is targeting over 64 per cent of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030. India has set the target of having 500GW of renewable energy by 2030. Coal-based power generation, however, ensures stable operation of the electricity transmission grid.

He said India's power infrastructure is mostly dominated by coal (based generation) as it constitutes more than 50 per cent in terms of capacity. In terms of output, the share of fossil fuel-based energy is 70 to 74 per cent. According to the latest Central Electricity Authority data, India has about 423 GW of power generation capacity, which includes 206GW coal-based capacity and around 7 GW lignite based.

He pointed out that India is already at 45 per cent (of non-fossil fuel based capacity) and reaching 50 per cent (renewable energy in energy mix) is not a challenge, but the country is targeting somewhere around 64 per cent-plus (non-fossil fuel based capacity) by 2030. The country has recorded its peak power demand at 234 GW on August 17, 2023. In December 2022, the power ministry has estimated the peak demand of 229 GW during this summer. The ministry has made it mandatory for plants using imported coal to run at full capacity and also asked domestic coal-based plants to import the dry fuel for blending to avoid shortage in view of high power demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19473.30, up by 29.30 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 19464.05 and 19584.45. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 1.80%, BPCL up by 1.74%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.58%, Asian Paints up by 1.30% and Axis Bank up by 0.99%. On the flip side, JIO Financial down by 4.99%, Hindalco down by 0.98%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.68%, NTPC down by 0.56% and Divi's Lab down by 0.52% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 368.22 points or 2.02% to 18,214.14, Taiwan Weighted added 193.97 points or 1.16% to 16,770.87, Straits Times rose 4.62 points or 0.15% to 3,178.80, Shanghai Composite strengthened 15.72 points or 0.51% to 3,094.12, Jakarta Composite gained 2.37 points or 0.03% to 6,923.78, KOSPI increased 27.54 points or 1.09% to 2,533.04 and Nikkei 225 surged 269.63 points or 0.84% to 32,279.89.