Sensex, Nifty off day’s lows in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks staged some recover in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty now trading off day’s low points, aided by buying at Realty and Telecom counters, despite negative cues from other Asian markets. Positive readings on industrial output and retail inflation helped key indices to cut some losses. Traders got some relief, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest survey report has showed that exports of software services by Indian companies (excluding their sales through overseas commercial presence) increased by 18.4 per cent during 2022-23 to $185.5 billion. It also noted that computer services accounted for over two-thirds of total software services exports during the year; BPO services remained the main component of ITES exports.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after South Korea's unemployment rate increased in September. The data from Statistics Korea showed that the unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in September from 2.4 percent in August. In the corresponding month last year, the unemployment rate was 2.8 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate also climbed to 2.3 percent in September from 2.0 percent, indicating 661,000 unemployed people in the country.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66090.86, down by 317.53 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 65895.41 and 66176.11. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.97%, Telecom up by 0.45%, Energy up by 0.28%, Oil & Gas up by 0.27% and Healthcare up by 0.27%, while IT down by 1.01%, TECK down by 0.85%, Bankex down by 0.83%, Basic Materials down by 0.38% and Power down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.83%, HCL Tech. up by 1.67%, Nestle up by 1.26%, Sun Pharma up by 0.74% and TCS up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.70%, Axis Bank down by 2.23%, Wipro down by 1.76%, SBI down by 1.74% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report expects a six-fold increase in data centre capacity to 5,100-5,200 MW involving investments of around Rs 1.60 lakh crore to be added in the next six years supported by significant data explosion and favourable regulatory policy initiatives by both states and the Centre. It noted that consequently, India’s share in global installed capacity is expected to sharply increase to 15-17% by 2028 from around 4% (19 GW) as of 2022. 

According to the report, majority of the upcoming investments are geared towards meeting high demand in co-location services. This will continue to be driven by hyperscalers and segments, which require strict data confidentiality like BFSI, IT/ITES etc. Location, proximity to landing stations, fibre connectivity, uninterrupted power supply and high scoring on disaster proofing are some of key parameters to decide on a location for setting up data centres. For these reasons and proximity to tenant headquarters, Mumbai has emerged as the biggest DC destination. Chennai also has presence of landing stations, but its reputation took a dent due to the floods of 2017 and 2018. 

It further said the other key emerging locations are Hyderabad and Pune, wherein some of the large hyperscalers are setting up huge DCs closer to their operational bases in India. Overall, Mumbai, Hyderabad, NCR and Chennai are likely to account for 85% of the installed DC capacity by 2028.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19711.75, down by 82.25 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 19635.30 and 19736.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.10%, Indusind Bank up by 1.88%, HCL Tech. up by 1.72%, Nestle up by 1.15% and Sun Pharma up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.89%, Infosys down by 2.79%, Axis Bank down by 2.27%, SBI down by 1.75% and Wipro down by 1.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 379.59 points or 2.08% to 17,858.62, Taiwan Weighted lost 43.34 points or 0.26% to 16,782.57, Straits Times fell 29.56 points or 0.92% to 3,189.13, Shanghai Composite weakened 19.8 points or 0.64% to 3,088.10, KOSPI dropped 23.67 points or 0.96% to 2,456.15 and Nikkei 225 slipped 178.67 points or 0.55% to 32,315.99, while Jakarta Composite gained 4.67 points or 0.07% to 6,939.82.