Benchmarks trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat in morning deals, amid muted global trends and continuous foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 354.35 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. The monthly derivatives expiry also added to the volatile trends in the markets. Some concern also came with a private report that investment in Indian startups dropped to a five-year low in the third quarter of calendar year 2023, with funding declining by 54 per cent year-on-year to $1.5 billion. The funding also fell 29 per cent quarter-on-quarter. However, traders took some support with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stating that in the next 25 years, the country's Amrit Kaal as espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will strive to be a developed country and it is logical' that it also seeks to be a global power. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed due to surging oil prices and elevated bond yields on concerns about further U.S. rate hikes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66103.78, down by 14.91 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 65981.81 and 66406.01. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.26%, Industrials up by 0.94%, Telecom up by 0.53%, Metal up by 0.47% and Utilities up by 0.42%, while IT down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.41%, TECK down by 0.35%, Auto down by 0.11% and Consumer Durables down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.37%, Axis Bank up by 0.98%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.93%, Sun Pharma up by 0.87% and SBI up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.00%, Asian Paints down by 1.41%, ITC down by 0.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.77% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has said the inclusion of certain Indian sovereign bonds in key emerging-market bond indices managed by JP Morgan will support a diversification of the investor base for Indian government securities. This inclusion could also help to lower funding costs slightly and support further development of domestic capital markets, but direct positive effects on India's credit profile will be marginal in the near term.

It mentioned ‘Inclusion in the indexes could facilitate about $24 billion in passive inflows between June 2024 and March 2025. Flows could be greater if other indexes also move to include Indian government securities.’

Further, it stated ‘India's high government debt and interest/revenue ratios are weaknesses in its credit profile, and developments that help to lower funding costs can have a significant influence on the sovereign's creditworthiness. However, we expect the positive effect on the sovereign rating of India's inclusion in the JP Morgan Global Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) to be small, especially in the near term, as its impact on fiscal credit metrics is unlikely to be significant.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19713.25, down by 3.20 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 19673.25 and 19766.65. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.24%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.20%, Axis Bank up by 0.99%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.96% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.98%, Asian Paints down by 1.60%, ITC down by 0.86%, Divi's Lab down by 0.80% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 46.17 points or 0.28% to 16,356.53, Straits Times rose 6.97 points or 0.22% to 3,207.00 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.95 points or 0.13% to 3,111.27. On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 182.41 points or 1.05% to 17,429.46 and Nikkei 225 slipped 553.9 points or 1.74% to 31,818.00.