Domestic indices trade in red amid global sell-off

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street. Domestic indices are trading in red in early deals as crude oil prices and bond yields in the US continued to move higher. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments fanned worries over higher-for-longer interest rates, adding to mounting concerns over the Middle East crisis. Foreign fund outflows also dented domestic sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,093.47 crore on October 19. However, downside remained capped as Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said prices of essential food items will remain stable during the festival season. He added the decision on allowing sugar exports during the current 2023-24 marketing year (October-September) will be taken after the agriculture ministry comes out with the production estimates of sugarcane. 

On the global front, all the Asian markets are trading in red as traders react to an escalation in tensions in the Middle East, and lingering worries about global economic slowdown and the outlook for interest rates. Besides, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 3.0 percent on year in September. That was in line with expectations and down from 3.2 percent in August.

Back home, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) article said a moderation in retail inflation in September from its peak in July has bolstered macroeconomic fundamentals even as global growth lost pace from the third quarter. In stock specific development, HUL and ITC were trading in the red a day after the companies released their September quarter numbers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65495.46, down by 133.78 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 65308.61 and 65555.14. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.14%, Auto up by 0.11%, Consumer Disc up by 0.04% and Bankex up by 0.03%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.84%, FMCG down by 0.77%, Power down by 0.47%, Energy down by 0.47% and Consumer Durables down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 1.98%, Indusind Bank up by 0.73%, Tata Motors up by 0.71%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.49% and TCS up by 0.26%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.89%, Power Grid down by 1.65%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.46%, HCL Technologies down by 1.14% and JSW Steel down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing view over economic growth, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill has said that middle-income countries like India need to make policies based on reliable data to get into the league of high-income nations in next 3-4 decades as achieving sustainable growth will become harder. He said to grow into higher-income countries, MCIs (Middle Income Countries) will have to reduce deficits in their mid-sized firms.

Gill pointed out that relatively few countries (31) have grown into high-income countries between 1990 and 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set an ambitious target of making India a developed nation by 2047. According to the World Bank, the world's middle-income countries (MICs) are a diverse group by size, population, and income level.

They are defined as lower middle-income economies -- those with a GNI (Gross National Income) per capita between $1,036 and $4,045; and upper middle-income economies -- those with a GNI per capita between $4,046 and $12,535. Middle-income countries are home to 75 per cent of the world's population and 62 per cent of the world's poor. At the same time, MICs represent about one-third of global GDP and are major engines of global growth. Countries with annual per capita income of over $12,000 are defined as high-income economies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19570.65, down by 54.05 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 19518.70 and 19593.80. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Nestle up by 2.43%, Adani Enterprises up by 0.83%, Tata Motors up by 0.72%, Indusind Bank up by 0.65% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.52%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.88%, Power Grid down by 1.87%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.51%, Divi's Lab down by 1.30% and HCL Technologies down by 1.20% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 90.68 points or 0.29% to 31,339.94, Hang Seng declined 70.07 points or 0.41% to 17,225.82, Taiwan Weighted lost 39.23 points or 0.24% to 16,413.50, KOSPI dropped 34.30 points or 1.42% to 2,381.50, Shanghai Composite weakened 8.17 points or 0.27% to 2,997.22, Jakarta Composite fell 2.84 points or 0.04% to 6,843.59 and Straits Times was down by1.96 points or 0.06% to 3,097.64.