Markets continues weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in late afternoon session amid weak cues from European markets.  Traders were worried after Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that India will still remain a lower middle country if the potential growth rate remains at 6 per cent annually without any rise in population by 2047 (Amrit Kaal) and will be reaching the end of the demographic dividend by then. Sector wise, sugar stock remained in focus as India's sugar production fell 11 per cent year-on-year to 74.05 lakh tonnes during the October 1-December 15 period of the current marketing year, mainly due to lower output in Maharashtra and Karnataka. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after New York Fed chief Williams said that a March cut seems 'premature', tempering market speculation about imminent rate cuts. Investors also sought direction from this week's Bank of Japan's interest-rate decision and a key U.S. inflation reading. European markets were trading mostly in red led by a decline in real estate stocks, while sentiment also took a hit after major central bank officials talked down prospects of nearing interest rate cuts. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71369.96, down by 113.79 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 71142.29 and 71552.24. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.76%, Capital Goods up by 0.71%, Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, Industrials up by 0.59% and Healthcare was up by 0.57%, while Realty down by 1.08%, Bankex down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.28%, TECK down by 0.20% and IT was down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.53%, Reliance Industries up by 1.19%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.96%, HCL Tech up by 0.79% and Asian Paints up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.53%, ITC down by 1.48%, ICICI Bank down by 1.39%, JSW Steel down by 1.11% and Infosys down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in its latest report has showed that India's exports and imports of goods and services are likely to dip by 2.6 per cent to $1,609 billion in 2023 as against $1,651.9 billion in 2022. However, it noted that robust exports performance in electronic goods, particularly smartphones, and services sectors will help India contain the fall in growth rate of overall trade.

According to the report, in 2023, sectors which are expected to register growth include, aviation turbine fuels, motor gasoline, smartphones, basmati rice, motor car-medium size, turbo-jets, and auto components. Smartphone exports are expected to jump by about 93 per cent to $14 billion during the current calendar year as against $7.2 billion in 2022.

Further, GTRI noted that in 2023, smartphone will emerge as a major success story for India. This significant increase will contribute to the overall rise in India's electronics exports, which reached $26.8 billion, marking a growth of 26.2 per cent, while imports of electronic goods will grow by over 8 per cent to $81 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21444.70, down by 11.95 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 21365.35 and 21482.80. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.11%, Sun Pharma up by 1.61%, Hindalco up by 1.54%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.53% and Reliance Industries up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.46%, ITC down by 1.49%, ICICI Bank down by 1.45%, JSW Steel down by 1.27% and Britannia down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 211.57 points or 0.65% to 32,758.98, Hang Seng declined 162.96 points or 0.98% to 16,629.23, Jakarta Composite plunged 74.02 points or 1.03% to 7,116.97, Taiwan Weighted lost 21.84 points or 0.12% to 17,652.03, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.76 points or 0.4% to 2,930.80 and Straits Times was down by 2.36 points or 0.08% to 3,114.15. On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 3.30 points or 0.13% to 2,566.86.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 31.46 points or 0.42% to 7,565.45 and Germany’s DAX was down by 36.38 points or 0.22% to 16,715.06. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 14.49 points or 0.19% to 7,590.85.