Benchmarks continue to trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat in morning deals, amid weak trends in Asian markets and continued selling from foreign funds. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,333.03 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Cautiousness ahead of the monthly F&O expiry this week also kept underlying sentiment cautious. However, traders took support with S&P Global Market Intelligence stating that Indian banks will continue attracting global investment from investors looking for better returns as credit growth, improved margins and stable asset quality boost the country’s lenders. Meanwhile, the market regulator has extended the short-term additional surveillance measure (ASM) and trade-for-trade settlement framework to small and medium enterprises (SME) stocks, a ciruclar from the exchanges informed. This revised framework will be made available by October 3. On the global front, Asian markets are trading lower amid concerns over China's property sector and the possible impact of high oil prices on inflation and interest rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66016.52, down by 7.17 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 65909.41 and 66078.26. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.03%, Telecom up by 1.00%, Basic Materials up by 0.82%, Utilities up by 0.74% and Industrials up by 0.68%, while IT down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.31% and TECK down by 0.24% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.08%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.29%, NTPC up by 1.17%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.99% and Tata Motors up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.20%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.08%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.03%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.96% and TCS down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, SBI Research in its latest report has said that the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to yet again pause the key repo rate at its next bi-monthly review scheduled in the first week of October. The meeting is scheduled for October 4-6. RBI typically conducts six bi-monthly meetings in a financial year, where it decides interest rates, money supply, inflation outlook, and various macroeconomic indicators.

It stated ‘Domestically, we believe at 6.50%, we are in for a prolonged pause as seasonality of inflation is tapering first. We believe the (RBI's) stance should continue to be withdrawal of accommodation as inflation is unlikely to tread below 5 per cent in rest of 2023-24.’

Further, on growth, it said the outlook continues to be strong. It mentioned ‘Spiraling oil prices should take a breather at these levels as vocal members of OPEC+ may not like to destabilize the markets further in the long run beyond $90/bbl having reached the optimal level where their production cost is adequately being compensated while also successfully having signalled to the world the power they wield over prices trajectory.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19673.00, down by 1.55 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 19649.80 and 19699.35. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.47%, Tata Steel up by 2.00%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.81%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.27% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.26%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.06%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.05% and Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 0.94% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 295.17 points or 0.9% to 32,383.45, Taiwan Weighted lost 158.77 points or 0.97% to 16,293.46, KOSPI dropped 31.89 points or 1.28% to 2,463.87, Jakarta Composite plunged 13.69 points or 0.2% to 6,984.69, Straits Times fell 2.75 points or 0.09% to 3,212.65, Shanghai Composite weakened 10.3 points or 0.33% to 3,105.31 and Hang Seng declined 149.26 points or 0.85% to 17,580.03.