Key gauges pare losses to trade flat

Indian equity benchmarks pared early losses to trade flat in late morning deals as traders continued buying index heavyweights on expectation that the US Federal Reserve to start rate cuts in March. Traders getting some support with Finance Ministry’s statement that Indian economy's GDP growth rate in 2023-24 to ‘comfortably’ exceed its forecast of 6.5 percent despite the risks to growth and stability outlook that mainly emanate from outside the country. It added that despite declining in H1 of the current fiscal, FDI inflows to India are expected to rebound on account of strong macroeconomic fundamentals, favourable business environment and rising growth, in the coming months. Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has said that the government’s fiscal deficit at the end of November stood at Rs 9.06 lakh crore or 50.7 per cent of the full-year budget estimate. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit - the difference between expenditure and revenue - was at Rs 9,06,584 crore during the April-October period of 2023-24. 

On the concern side, the output of eight core industries slipped to a six-month low of 7.8 per cent in November 2023 due to a decline in the output of crude oil and cement sectors. The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for August 2023 is revised to 13.4 per cent. The cumulative growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries during April to November, 2023-24 is 8.6 per cent (provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72204.33, down by 35.93 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 72032.97 and 72222.72. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.71%, while Small cap index was up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.50%, PSU up by 1.48%, Oil & Gas up by 1.12%, Energy up by 1.03% and Metal up by 0.77%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.12%, IT down by 0.09% and TECK down by 0.08% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.73%, Nestle up by 0.96%, SBI up by 0.67%, ITC up by 0.66% and Tata Steel up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.79%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.58%, HDFC Bank down by 0.47% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has said that the government’s fiscal deficit at the end of November stood at Rs 9.06 lakh crore or 50.7 per cent of the full-year budget estimate. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit - the difference between expenditure and revenue - was at Rs 9,06,584 crore during the April-October period of 2023-24. In the corresponding period last year, the deficit was at 58.9 per cent of the budget estimates of 2022-23. For 2023-24, the fiscal deficit of the government is estimated to be at Rs 17.86 lakh crore or 5.9 per cent of the GDP.

It stated the Government of India received Rs 17.4 lakh crore (64.3 per cent of corresponding BE 2023-24 of total receipts) up to November 2023 comprising Rs 14.35 lakh crore tax revenue (net), Rs 2.84 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 25,463 crore of non-debt capital receipts. Non-debt capital receipts consist of recovery of loans and miscellaneous capital receipts.

As per the CGA data, total expenditure incurred by the central government was at Rs 26.52 lakh crore (58.9 per cent of corresponding BE 2023-24) during April-November 2023. Out of the total expenditure, Rs 20.66 lakh crore was on revenue account and Rs 5.85 lakh crore was on capital account. Continuing the path of fiscal consolidation, the government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21737.30, up by 5.90 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 21684.05 and 21742.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.45%, Tata Motors up by 1.81%, UPL up by 1.65%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.51% and Adani Ports up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.69%, Eicher Motors down by 1.60%, Britannia down by 0.87%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.73% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.70% were the top losers.