Bears hold grip over Dalal Street

Bears were holding a tight grip over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty lingering under selling pressure, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Heavy selling at TECK and IT counters kept markets lower, while Tech Mahindra fell the most among major players on the BSE. Sentiments remained downbeat amid a private report stating that investments by private equity and venture capital funds declined for the second consecutive year in 2023 after the 'funding winter' impacted 2022. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after South Korea's gross domestic product climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023. That was unchanged from the Q3 reading, and it exceeded estimates for an increase of 0.5 percent. Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased by 0.4 percent on quarter.

Back home, auto industry stocks were in watch, as CareEdge said that the Passenger Vehicles (PV) segment volumes are expected to log a record 8-10 per cent growth this fiscal as the pent-up demand levels off amid hike in vehicle prices.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 70471.26, down by 589.05 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 70324.14 and 71049.46. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.62%, while Small cap index was up by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.30%, Power up by 1.00%, Realty up by 0.45%, Industrials up by 0.42% and Capital Goods up by 0.34%, while TECK down by 1.31%, IT down by 1.30%, Bankex down by 1.20%, Healthcare down by 1.12% and FMCG down by 1.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.84%, Indusind Bank up by 1.11%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.60%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.34% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 6.07%, ITC down by 2.20%, HCL Tech. down by 2.00%, HDFC Bank down by 1.91% and Axis Bank down by 1.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has invited bids to set up giga-scale Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) manufacturing facilities of a cumulative 10 GWh capacity under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme with a maximum budgetary outlay of Rs 3,620 crore.  Documents for the global tender are available online from January 24, 2024. The bid due date is April 22, 2024 and bids shall be opened on April 23, 2024.  

The ministry stated that PLI scheme 'National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage' promotes manufacturing of technology-agnostic ACC in India. With this bidding process, the prospective applicants can submit their bids to set up domestic manufacturing facility for ACC, which will help them qualify for incentives under PLI ACC scheme. It promotes the development and growth of three sectors namely capital goods, automobile and heavy electrical equipment in the country. The ministry is supporting the growth of India's manufacturing capabilities and exports in the automobile and automobile component sector and is fully committed to taking forward the government’s resolve of a self-reliant and developed India.

In May 2021, the Cabinet had approved the PLI ACC scheme for achieving manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt hours (GWh) of ACC with an outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. The first round of bidding was concluded in March 2022, and three companies were allocated a total capacity of 30 GWh, and the programme agreement with selected companies was signed in July 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21287.35, down by 166.60 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 21247.05 and 21459.00. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 4.88%, NTPC up by 2.07%, Coal India up by 1.44%, BPCL up by 0.87% and Indusind Bank up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 5.99%, Cipla down by 3.46%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.73%, Adani Enterprises down by 2.71% and ITC down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 311.86 points or 1.92% to 16,211.73, Taiwan Weighted added 126.79 points or 0.7% to 18,002.62, Jakarta Composite gained 2.94 points or 0.04% to 7,230.76, Shanghai Composite strengthened 82.62 points or 2.85% to 2,903.39, KOSPI increased 0.65 points or 0.03% to 2,470.34 and Nikkei 225 surged 9.99 points or 0.03% to 36,236.47, while Straits Times fell 8.69 points or 0.28% to 3,144.64.