Equity benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmark continued to trade lower in morning deals, led by losses in Consumer Durables, Banking and IT stocks. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of retail inflation data for October, scheduled to be released later in the day. Some concern came with data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) cooled to a three-month low of 5.8 per cent in September from 10.3 per cent in August, on the back of moderation across all sub-sectors and use-based categories. Traders paid no heed towards the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stating that gross direct tax collection increased by 17.59 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 12.37 trillion in the period from April 1 to November 9. Direct tax collection (net of refunds) stood at Rs 10.6 trillion, 21.82 per cent higher than the net collection for the comparable period last year. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.77 trillion have been issued during the period. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as traders awaited another batch of U.S. inflation data that is expected to offer further clues this week on whether the Federal Reserve has more work to do to tame price pressures.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64887.07, down by 372.38 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 64856.56 and 65176.96. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.90%, Power up by 0.62%, Metal up by 0.47% and PSU up by 0.36%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.62%, Bankex down by 0.62%, IT down by 0.61%, FMCG down by 0.58% and Realty down by 0.56% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.09%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.92%, Indusind Bank up by 0.37%, Sun Pharma up by 0.32% and JSW Steel up by 0.00%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.55%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.05%, ICICI Bank down by 0.94%, Asian Paints down by 0.91% and SBI down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) decelerated to 5.8 per cent in September 2023 from a 14-month high of 10.3 per cent in August 2023, in line with slowdown in manufacturing activity. Industrial production had grown by 3.3 per cent in September 2022. Though on an annual basis, the output of manufacturing and mining sectors showed an improvement. During April-September 2023-24, the IIP growth works out to be 6 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. The growth rates over the corresponding period of the previous year are to be interpreted, considering the unusual circumstances on account of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.

The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed the manufacturing sector’s output grew 4.5 per cent in September 2023 against  2 per cent growth a year ago. Power generation rose 9.9 per cent in September 2023 compared to 11.6 per cent growth in the year-ago period. Mining output rose by 11.5 per cent in the month under review against a 5.2 per cent contraction a year ago. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of September 2023 stood at 111.5, 140.6 and 205.9 respectively.

As per use-based classification, Consumer durables output during the month grew by 1 per cent against a contraction of 5.5 per cent. Consumer non-durable goods output increased by 2.7 per cent compared to a contraction of 5.7 per cent a year earlier. The intermediate goods output in September rose 5.8 per cent from 1.7 per cent growth during the corresponding month last year. Besides, the output of primary goods logged 8 per cent growth in the month compared to 9.5 per cent in the year-ago period. The capital goods segment grew 7.4 per cent in September this year compared to 11.4 per cent growth in the year-ago month. Infrastructure/construction goods posted a growth of 7.5 per cent against an 8.2 per cent expansion a year ago.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19426.10, down by 99.45 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 19414.75 and 19494.40. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.23%, Eicher Motors up by 1.73%, Coal India up by 1.39%, Hindalco up by 1.16% and Power Grid Corporation up by 0.83%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.83%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.51%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.31%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.99% and SBI down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 48.7 points or 0.15% to 32,519.41, Hang Seng declined 24.46 points or 0.14% to 17,178.80, KOSPI dropped 0.92 points or 0.04% to 2,408.74 and Shanghai Composite weakened 5.66 points or 0.19% to 3,033.31.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted added 163.49 points or 0.98% to 16,846.16 and Jakarta Composite gained 30.58 points or 0.45% to 6,839.84.