Benchmarks extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, amid weak trends in the US markets and continuous foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 693.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Traders paid no heed towards report stating that the central government has decided to stick to its market borrowing plan of Rs 6.55 trillion in the second half (October-March) of financial year 2023-24 (H2FY24), brushing aside pressure from tepid revenue growth and rising subsidy burden in the pre-election year. This will include the issuance of sovereign green bonds worth Rs 20,000 crore, as against the Rs 16,000 crore maiden green bonds issued in FY23. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed on uncertainty about the Fed's rate path and worries over a possible U.S. government shutdown. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65588.85, down by 356.62 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 65556.78 and 65925.64. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.72%, Healthcare up by 0.65%, Realty up by 0.46%, Industrials up by 0.24% and Capital Goods up by 0.10%, while Bankex down by 0.87%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64%, Metal down by 0.60%, Consumer Durables down by 0.43% and FMCG down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 0.58%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.42%, Reliance Industries up by 0.28%, JSW Steel up by 0.24% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.47%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.35%, ICICI Bank down by 1.28%, HDFC Bank down by 1.27% and Nestle down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said the government will borrow Rs 6.55 lakh crore in the second half of 2023-24 through dated securities, including Rs 20,000 crore through issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs). The government meets its fiscal deficit mainly through market borrowings. The government had projected gross market borrowing of Rs 15.43 lakh crore for 2023-24. The Government of India has decided to borrow the balance amount of Rs 6.55 lakh crore (42.45 per cent of Rs 15.43 lakh crore) in the second half of the fiscal year 2023-24. 

It added ‘Responding to market demand for longer duration securities, 50-year security will be issued for the first time.’ The gross market borrowing of Rs 6.55 lakh crore will be completed through 20 weekly auctions. The market borrowing will be spread over 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 30, 40 and 50-year securities.

Besides, it said weekly borrowing through the issuance of Treasury Bills in the third quarter of the fiscal is expected to be Rs 24,000 crore with net borrowing of Rs (-)52,000 crore during the quarter. It mentioned said that the Reserve Bank of India has fixed the Ways and Mean Advances (WMA) limit for the October-March period of 2023-24 at Rs 50,000 crore to take care of temporary mismatches in Government accounts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19560.20, down by 104.50 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 19558.70 and 19649.55. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 1.77%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.21%, LTIMindtree up by 0.79%, Divi's Lab up by 0.71% and Hindalco up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.59%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.49%, HDFC Bank down by 1.33%, ICICI Bank down by 1.32% and UPL down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Shanghai Composite strengthened 10.27 points or 0.33% to 3,112.54, Hang Seng advanced 111.03 points or 0.63% to 17,577.93, Taiwan Weighted added 13.87 points or 0.09% to 16,289.94 and Jakarta Composite gained 28.81 points or 0.42% to 6,952.61.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 83.84 points or 0.26% to 32,231.21, KOSPI dropped 6.58 points or 0.27% to 2,456.39 and Straits Times fell 26.42 points or 0.82% to 3,188.65.