Benchmarks trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat in morning deals, in tandem with weak global cues and foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,725.11 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Traders also remained cautious as S&P Global Ratings Economist (Asia Pacific) Vishrut Rana stated that inflation in India is likely to remain elevated in the near terms but government policies will prevent it from rising further. In July, the consumer price index based retail inflation spiked to 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July, with specific food commodities mainly driving the increase. However, traders took some support with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that ‘Our banking system remains resilient and healthy with improved capital ratios, asset quality and profitability’. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red amid concerns about global economic slowdown after release of disappointing data that showed weak services activity in China and slowing Eurozone business activity. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65758.46, down by 21.80 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 65707.41 and 65870.70. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.93%, Oil & Gas up by 0.90%, Energy up by 0.78%, Consumer Durables up by 0.45% and FMCG up by 0.38%, while Metal down by 1.04%, Realty down by 0.25%, Auto down by 0.23%, PSU down by 0.19% and Power down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.07%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.73%, HDFC Bank up by 0.57%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.54% and ITC up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.37%, NTPC down by 0.98%, Indusind Bank down by 0.97%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.82% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ICRA has said net leasing of office space across six major cities is estimated to decline by 10 per cent this fiscal (FY24), from 57 million square feet in the previous year. These top six cities are Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune. Its sample includes 22 commercial office operators totalling 165 million square feet area.

The fall in office demand coupled with an influx of huge supply in FY24, would result in a marginal rise in vacancy levels by 60 basis points to 15.5 per cent by the end of FY24. It stated ‘The office developers are expected to witness a revenue growth of 11-13 per cent in FY2024 for ICRA's sample set of non-REIT companies, supported by scheduled rent escalation and improvement in occupancy levels of reputed office players.’

Further, it said the rental rates are estimated to rise by 3-5 per cent YoY in FY24, driven by contracted escalations/lease renewals at higher rates. ICRA's outlook on the commercial office sector is 'stable'.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19576.60, up by 1.70 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 19557.15 and 19604.85. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 1.85%, Divi's Lab up by 1.79%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.29%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.03% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.99%. On the flip side, JIO Financial Services down by 2.12%, Hindalco down by 1.65%, Tata Steel down by 1.40%, Indusind Bank down by 0.92% and NTPC down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 150.67 points or 0.82% to 18,306.24, Taiwan Weighted lost 0.4 points or 0% to 16,791.21, Straits Times fell 3.73 points or 0.12% to 3,223.10, KOSPI dropped 15.14 points or 0.59% to 2,567.04 and Shanghai Composite weakened 10.75 points or 0.34% to 3,143.62.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 11.14 points or 0.16% to 7,002.85 and Nikkei 225 surged 127.53 points or 0.38% to 33,164.29.