Sensex, Nifty extend losses in early noon deals

Extending their losses, Indian equity benchmarks were trading near their intraday low points in early afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty witnessing a sharp fall, impacted by heavy selling at Oil & Gas and PSU counters along with mixed cues from other Asian markets. Traders were cautious ahead of the release of some key U.S. economic data as well as a slew of major central bank meetings later this week, including the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Norges Bank. The street paid no heed towards a private report stating that the Indian stock market has pipped Hong Kong to become the fourth-highest equity market globally. The combined value of shares listed on Indian exchanges reached $4.33 trillion as of Monday's close, versus $4.29 trillion for Hong Kong.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after Singapore's consumer price inflation increased somewhat in December after easing to a more than two-year low in November. The data published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed that the consumer price index, or CPI, climbed 3.7 percent year-over-year in December, slightly faster than the 3.6 percent increase in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 70924.28, down by 499.37 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 70914.15 and 72039.20. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.83%, while Small cap index was down by 1.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.50%, TECK up by 0.36%, IT up by 0.11% and Telecom up by 0.04%, while Oil & Gas down by 2.72%, PSU down by 2.60%, Energy down by 2.53%, Realty down by 2.52% and Metal down by 2.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.84%, Power Grid up by 2.66%, ICICI Bank up by 2.25% and Infosys up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.47%, HDFC Bank down by 3.19%, Axis Bank down by 3.06%, SBI down by 2.95% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its data has showed that India’s exports of goods and services rose marginally by 0.4 per cent to $765.6 billion in 2023 despite global economic uncertainties. Of the total, goods exports in the last calendar year contracted by 4.71 per cent to $431.9 billion, while services exports are estimated to have risen by 7.88 per cent to $333.8 billion. The latest data for the services sector released by the RBI is for November 2023. The data for December 2023 is an estimation by the ministry.

Sectors which helped keep India's exports afloat include electronics, pharmaceuticals, cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups; ceramic products, meat, dairy and poultry products, fruits and vegetables and information technology. The main export destinations for India are the US, the UAE, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, the UK and Germany. Goods shipments are impacted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Red Sea trade route crisis due to attacks by Yemen-based Houthis on cargo ships.

The merchandise imports also dipped by 7 per cent to $667.73 billion in 2023 as against $720.2 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, the data for the current fiscal shows that the goods exports during April-December 2023 dipped by 5.7 per cent to $317.12 billion. Imports contracted by 7.93 per cent to $505.15 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $188.02 billion in the first three quarters as against $212.34 billion in April-December 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21382.55, down by 189.25 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 21372.05 and 21750.25. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 6.45%, Sun Pharma up by 3.25%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.74%, Power Grid up by 2.68% and Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.26%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.66%, Indusind Bank down by 3.52%, SBI Life Insurance down by 3.52%, Coal India down by 3.36% and BPCL down by 3.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 474.66 points or 3.17% to 15,435.84, Taiwan Weighted added 59.49 points or 0.33% to 17,874.59, Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.36 points or 0.74% to 2,776.70 and KOSPI increased 14.26 points or 0.58% to 2,478.61, while Jakarta Composite plunged 34.58 points or 0.48% to 7,213.35, Straits Times fell 5.47 points or 0.17% to 3,143.65 and Nikkei 225 slipped 29.38 points or 0.08% to 36,517.57.