Weak trade persists over Dalal Street

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty lingering below their neutral lines, impacted by selling at Auto and Capital Goods counters along with uncertainty over monetary policy rates in the United States. However, losses were limited amid reports that after sustained selling in the last two and a half months, FPIs bought Indian equities worth Rs 1,433 crore thus far in November, mainly due to the decline in US treasury bond yields and crude oil prices. Foreign Portfolios Investors (FPIs) were net sellers till November 15. However, they reversed the selling trend by infusing money during November 16-17.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after China's central bank left its benchmark lending rates unchanged as any additional easing could weaken the currency. As expected, the People's Bank of China kept the one-year loan prime rate, or LPR, unchanged at 3.45 percent. Previously, the bank had lowered the rate by 10 basis points in August. The five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 4.20 percent for the fifth consecutive time.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65634.47, down by 160.26 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 65547.80 and 65844.01. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.58%, TECK up by 0.36%, PSU up by 0.32%, Healthcare up by 0.23% and Metal up by 0.11%, while Auto down by 0.91%, Capital Goods down by 0.52%, FMCG down by 0.48%, Basic Materials down by 0.40% and Consumer discretionary down by 0.36% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 1.29%, Wipro up by 1.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.41% and Indusind Bank up by 0.38%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.44%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.34%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.26%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted banks to open additional special current account for exports proceeds in addition to special rupee vostro accounts with a view to provide greater operational flexibility to exporters. 

In July 2022, in order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in INR, the RBI has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports/imports in INR. India has been trying to promote rupee trade following the RussiaUkraine war and the sanctions imposed by the West. It also decided to allow the settlement of India's international trade in rupee.

Accordingly, authorised Indian banks must open and maintain special rupee vostro accounts of the partner trading country's banks. These accounts keep the foreign bank's holdings in the Indian counterpart in rupees. When an Indian trader wants to make a payment to a foreign trader in rupees, the amount will be credited to this vostro account. Similarly, in the reverse scenario, the amount to be paid to an Indian trader is deducted from the vostro account, and credited to the person's regular account.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19690.65, down by 41.15 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 19670.50 and 19756.45. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 1.66%, HCL Tech. up by 1.21%, Wipro up by 1.14%, LTIMindtree up by 0.98% and ONGC up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.47%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.04%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.32%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.32% and Adani Enterprises down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 298.95 points or 1.68% to 17,753.14, Taiwan Weighted added 1.52 points or 0.01% to 17,210.47, Jakarta Composite gained 4.06 points or 0.06% to 6,981.73, Shanghai Composite strengthened 13.95 points or 0.45% to 3,068.32 and KOSPI increased 21.35 points or 0.86% to 2,491.20, while Straits Times fell 19.64 points or 0.63% to 3,105.03 and Nikkei 225 slipped 197.17 points or 0.59% to 33,388.03.