Benchmarks continue to trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat in morning deals, amid lack of any immediate trigger. Traders took a note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that NBFCs and small finance banks need to remain cautious while lending as suggested by the Reserve Bank. She said as a measure of caution the RBI has also alerted small finance banks, NBFCs to be careful that they don't go too far too soon and face any downside risks later. However, traders took support with additional Secretary in the department of commerce Rajesh Agarwal stating that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are getting greater importance in the upcoming Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) as these pacts provide huge opportunities for them to participate in global trade. Sectorally, stocks related to plastic industry remained in focus as Plexconcil said plastic exports grew 9.4 per cent year-on-year to $933 million as the raw material prices declined and festive demand in key markets increased. The country's plastic exports stood at $852 million in October 2022. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as traders remained reluctant to make significant moves. Investors also assessed key economic data out from Japan on Friday. The world’s third largest economy saw its core inflation rate rise to 2.9% in October, higher than the 2.8% seen in September.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65987.65, down by 30.16 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 65961.98 and 66101.64. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.10%, Metal up by 0.40%, Utilities up by 0.39%, Power up by 0.36% and Capital Goods up by 0.30%, while TECK down by 0.39%, IT down by 0.38%, Oil & Gas down by 0.33%, FMCG down by 0.18% and Energy down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 0.96%, NTPC up by 0.87%, Sun Pharma up by 0.40%, Axis Bank up by 0.36% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.31%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.02%, Tata Motors down by 0.92%, Wipro down by 0.77%, Tata Steel down by 0.67% and TCS down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Plastics Export Promotion Council (Plexconcil) has said that plastic exports grew 9.4 per cent year-on-year to $933 million 2023 as the raw material prices declined and festive demand in key markets increased. The country's plastic exports stood at $852 million in October 2022. 

It stated ‘We are very pleased to see a positive movement in exports of most of the product segments in October.’ There is an increase in demand following the festival season in the key markets. Exports of consumer and houseware products improved by 6.3 per cent in October, primarily due to higher sales of tableware and kitchenware made of plastics, builders ware of plastics and furniture made of plastics.

The Plexconcil added It was seen that India exported more of builders' ware of plastics to the US and UK; and plastic furnitureto Panama. Plexconcil Executive Director Sribash Dasmohapatra said ‘We also saw a decline in raw material prices, which boosted exports. We hope that this trend continues into the next few months, and we are able to achieve overall growth despite the dampening performance in the past six months.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19807.65, up by 5.65 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 19786.60 and 19832.85. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 2.31%, Cipla up by 2.14%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.43%, Hindalco up by 1.32% and JSW Steel up by 1.03%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.05%, Tata Motors down by 0.83%, Wipro down by 0.80%, BPCL down by 0.69% and UPL down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 247.97 points or 1.38% to 17,662.87, Straits Times fell 18.66 points or 0.6% to 3,096.26, Shanghai Composite weakened 16.1 points or 0.53% to 3,045.75, KOSPI dropped 14.35 points or 0.57% to 2,500.61, Taiwan Weighted was down by 9.98 points or 0.06% to 17,284.57 and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.69 points or 0.01% to 7,003.65.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 201.81 points or 0.6% to 33,653.64.