Sensex, Nifty hover near neutral lines

Indian equity benchmarks were hovering near their neutral lines in early afternoon deals, after the FOMC's September meeting minutes confirmed that the U.S. central bank has kept another rate hike in play. Sentiments were cautious as the International Monetary Fund’s Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, Ruud de Mooij said that India has a high debt like that of China but the risks associated with it are not as great as that of its northern neighbour. Further, auto industry related stocks were in watch, as the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report showed that automobile retail sales in India rose by 9 per cent year on year in the April-September period of this fiscal to 1,10,79,116 units as compared with 1,01,79,072 units in the same period of the 2022-23 fiscal, on the back of highest-ever registrations of passenger vehicles and three-wheelers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, after overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.9 percent on year in September, coming in at 607.742 trillion yen. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent, which would have been unchanged from the August reading. Excluding trusts, bank lending rose an annual 3.2 percent to 530.615 trillion yen, slowing from the 3.4 percent gain in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66465.48, down by 7.57 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 66342.53 and 66577.60. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.11%, Metal up by 1.01%, Energy up by 0.94%, PSU up by 0.77% and Basic Materials up by 0.70%, while TECK down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.55%, Realty down by 0.22% and Capital Goods down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.40%, Power Grid up by 1.34%, NTPC up by 1.24%, JSW Steel up by 1.05% and Indusind Bank up by 0.73%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.50%, HCL Tech. down by 1.24%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.82%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.51% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) in its latest study has said that aggressive marketing strategy including support from the government can help Indian businesses tap $112 billion export potential in ten countries like the US and UK in three years. It said that to tap this potential, a proper strategy is required.

FIEO suggested the government to formulate a scheme to support participation of domestic industry in exhibitions, buyers-sellers meet, and roadshows in important cities of these ten countries to showcase Indian goods. Besides, Indian missions in these countries should identify market access issues so that those problems can be resolved to promote shipments of domestic goods in those destinations as non-tariff barriers impact exports. It also said the missions can also help industry organize meetings with leading importers. It added that active print and electronic media campaigns can be considered to show the prowess of domestic manufacturing capabilities in these countries.

The organization said 'the top 10 countries with the value of untapped exports potential of $112 billion are the US ($31 billion), China ($22 billion), UAE ($11 billion), Hong Kong ($8.5 billion), Germany (7.4 billion), Vietnam ($9.3 billion), Bangladesh ($5 billion), UK ($5.4 billion), Indonesia ($6 billion) and Malaysia ($5.8 billion). It said that due to global slowdown, rising interest rate and high inflation, the demand has taken a hit affecting India's exports also and in this backdrop, it is important to focus on untapped exports potential. According to the study, there is a potential to increase exports of domestic products to these ten destinations and those goods include diamonds, vehicles, jewellery, electronic items, auto components, marine products, apparel, insecticides, iron and steel, tea, and coffee.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19811.45, up by 0.10 points after trading in a range of 19772.65 and 19843.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.90%, Coal India up by 1.66%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.43%, Power Grid up by 1.36% and Grasim Industries up by 1.29%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.51%, Cipla down by 1.42%, HCL Tech. down by 1.23%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.97% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.90% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Hang Seng advanced 376.63 points or 2.06% to 18,269.73, Taiwan Weighted added 153.88 points or 0.91% to 16,825.91, Jakarta Composite gained 36.51 points or 0.52% to 6,968.26, Straits Times rose 31.36 points or 0.97% to 3,224.23, Shanghai Composite strengthened 28.57 points or 0.92% to 3,107.53, KOSPI increased 29.74 points or 1.2% to 2,479.82 and Nikkei 225 surged 558.15 points or 1.72% to 32,494.66.