Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets remained in red and were trading with marginal cut in late morning deals as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets. Selling in Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma and Larsen & Toubro companies’ stocks dragged the markets to trade in red. Weak cues from global markets also weighed on the domestic sentiments. Meanwhile, investors also avoided taking any long position ahead of the RBI policy announcements on December 8. However, broader indices were trading in green. Sugar industry related stocks were under pressure as India is reportedly considering curbing ethanol production from sugar cane as the world’s largest consumer of the sweetener battles domestic shortages. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red following negative cues from US markets overnight. Back home, in the stock specific development, IRCON International shares declined after the union government proposed to sell 8% equity in the company through an offer for sale (OFS), which opens today.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 69556.21, down by 97.52 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 69320.53 and 69695.33. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.43%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.34%, Power up by 1.89%, Oil & Gas up by 0.74%, Auto up by 0.62% and Consumer Disc up by 0.53%, while FMCG down by 0.58%, Metal down by 0.46%, TECK down by 0.29%, Realty down by 0.11% and Capital Goods down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.36%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.36%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.25%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.75% and Indusind Bank up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.00%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.80%, Sun Pharma down by 0.73%, Tata Steel down by 0.64% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that automobile retail sales in India rose to a record high in November 2023, aided by the best ever monthly performance across passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments. The overall retail sales stood at 28,54,242 units in November 2023, 18 per cent higher over 24,09,535 units in November 2022. 

Passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales rose to 3,60,431 units in November 2023 as compared to 3,07,550 units in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 17 per cent. Similarly, two-wheeler registrations rose by 21 per cent in November 2023 to 22,47,366 units from 18,56,108 units in November last year.  The two-wheeler segment saw sales of 22.47 lakh vehicles, an increase of 1.77 lakh vehicles compared to the previous high of March 2020, while the passenger vehicle category also sold 3.6 lakh units, over 4,000 units more when compared to the previous high of October 2022.

Three-wheeler retail sales rose to 99,890 units in November 2023, registering a growth of 23 per cent from November 2022. Tractor sales, however, witnessed a decline of 21 per cent to 61,969 units in November from 78,720 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, commercial vehicle retail sales witnessed a dip of 2 per cent year-on-year at 84,586 units in November 2023.    

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20905.75, down by 31.95 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 20850.80 and 20941.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 2.41%, Power Grid up by 1.98%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.48%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.36% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.13%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.18%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.09%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.93%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.48% and Hindalco down by 0.99% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 185.02 points or 1.12% to 16,278.24, Nikkei 225 slipped 575.25 points or 1.72% to 32,870.65, Taiwan Weighted lost 81.98 points or 0.47% to 17,278.74, Straits Times fell 23.89 points or 0.77% to 3,063.35, KOSPI dropped 2.67 points or 0.11% to 2,492.71, Shanghai Composite weakened 3.97 points or 0.13% to 2,964.96 and Jakarta Composite plunged 17.43 points or 0.25% to 7,069.97.