Bourses trade flat with positive bias in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets remained flat and were trading slightly higher in late morning deals owing to buying in Oil & Gas and banking industry stocks. Traders were getting some encouragement as India’s industrial production measured in Index of Industrial Production (IIP) jumped to 5.7 per cent in July 2023 from 3.7 per cent in June 2023.  However, broader indices on the BSE were trading in red in the range of 0.15-0.65%. Traders were cautious amid rising crude oil prices and weak cues from global markets. Meanwhile, market participants awaited the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy path. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following negative cues from US markets overnight.  Back home, in the stocks specific development, Waree Renewable Technologies gained after the company received a letter of intent for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services in respect to setting up a solar power project of 52.6 megawatts peak (MWP) capacity.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 67285.46, up by 64.33 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 67053.36 and 67315.05. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.61%, while Small cap index down by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.91%, Energy up by 0.78%, Telecom up by 0.49%, Bankex up by 0.46% and PSU up by 0.37%, while Capital Goods down by 1.20%, Industrials down by 0.99%, Realty down by 0.92%, IT down by 0.57% and Power down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 1.31%, Axis Bank up by 1.14%, Titan up by 1.03%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.88% and Tata Motors up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.00%, HCL down by 0.91%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.65% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after touching a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July 2023, retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined to 6.83 per cent in August 2023 mainly due to softening prices of vegetables. CPI was at 7 per cent in August 2022. But, still the inflation remains above the comfort level of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has the mandate to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

The overall inflation in the food basket stood at 9.94 per cent in August as against 11.51 per cent in July. The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in August 2023 stood at 7.02 per cent as against 7.63 per cent in July. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 6.59 per cent in August as against 7.20 per cent in July. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 187.6, 184.5 and 186.2 respectively, in August 2023.

Inflation in the vegetable basket eased to 26.14 per cent in August as against 37.4 per cent in July. The prices of 'oil and fats' products declined to 15.28 per cent in August while there was low inflation in 'meat and fish', 'eggs', 'sugar and confectionary', 'non-alcoholic beverages', 'fruits' and 'prepared meals and snacks' on an annual basis. The data also showed that inflation in the 'housing' was at 4.38 per cent and 'fuel and light' at 4.31 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20026.15, up by 32.95 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 19944.10 and 20027.30. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 2.98%, BPCL up by 1.81%, Power Grid up by 1.44%, ONGC up by 1.33% and Coal India up by 1.18%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.80%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.97%, HCL down by 0.89% and Cipla down by 0.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times fell 5.46 points or 0.17% to 3,209.00, Shanghai Composite weakened 21.47 points or 0.68% to 3,115.59, Jakarta Composite plunged 16.63 points or 0.24% to 6,917.34, KOSPI dropped 3.20 points or 0.13% to 2,533.38 and Nikkei 225 slipped 93.12 points or 0.28% to 32,683.25. However, Hang Seng advanced 0.33 points or 0% to 18,026.22 and Taiwan Weighted added 8.8 points or 0.05% to 16,581.51.