Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in red in late morning deals as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. The Fed will conclude its two-day monetary policy meeting today night. Further, persistent foreign fund outflows also weighed on the markets. Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 696.02 crore on October 31, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed. Besides, depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 4 paise to 83.28 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. Cautiousness also prevailed in the markets as India's manufacturing growth softened for the second straight month as demand eased, which alongside bigger increases in the cost of raw materials had an impact on business confidence. S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index showed factory activity dropped to an eight-month low of 55.5 in October from 57.5 in September.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from US markets overnight. Sentiments also got boost after Japan’s central bank increased the flexibility around its yield curve control policy. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  Realty, Telecom, Oil & Gas, Energy and PSU, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Bankex, Capital Goods, Basic Materials and Power.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63740.86, down by 134.07 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 63647.75 and 63896.05. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.06%, while Small cap index up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.30%, Telecom up by 1.13%, Oil & Gas up by 0.84%, Energy up by 0.58% and PSU up by 0.28%, while Metal down by 0.50%, Bankex down by 0.50%, Capital Goods down by 0.39%, Basic Materials down by 0.34% and Power down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.02%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.70%, Sun Pharma up by 0.58%, SBI up by 0.53% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.44%, Nestle down by 1.37%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.07%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.06% and Axis Bank down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core industries slowed to a four-month low of 8.1 per cent in September 2023 on the back of a high base and a slowdown in seven constituent sectors. In September last year, the core sector output had grown 8.3 per cent. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

Cement production, having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 4.7 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 11.5 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Coal production, having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 16.1 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 12.2 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 9.3 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 6.0 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 4.2 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 7.0 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight increased by 6.5 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 4.3 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 5.5 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index increased by 4.0 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year. However, Crude Oil production having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 0.4 per cent in September, 2023 over September, 2022 and its cumulative index declined by 0.4 per cent during April to September, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19045.30, down by 34.30 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 19019.65 and 19096.05. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.16%, Tata Consumer up by 1.72%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.15%, Reliance Industries up by 1.09% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.41%, Nestle down by 1.36%, UPL down by 1.16%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.10% and Axis Bank down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 682.69 points or 2.16% to 31,541.54, Taiwan Weighted added 58.64 points or 0.37% to 16,059.91, Straits Times rose 3.98 points or 0.13% to 3,071.72, KOSPI increased 19.88 points or 0.87% to 2,297.87 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.1 points or 0.17% to 3,023.87. However, Jakarta Composite plunged 75.92 points or 1.14% to 6,676.29 and Hang Seng declined 18.08 points or 0.11% to 17,094.40.