Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in red and were trading lower with cut of around quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of selling in Kotak Mahindra, Indusind Bank, SBI and Tata Steel companies’ stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices underperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index dropping in the range of 1.50-1.80%. Traders were cautious after 10-year U.S. Treasury yield and crude oil prices recently rose. Further, market participants remained on sidelines ahead of major macroeconomic data -- Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January and India Industrial Production (IIP) for December -- to be out later in the day. On the global front, Jakarta Composite rose amid markets in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea closed for public holidays. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in IT, TECK and Healthcare, while selling was witnessed in PSU, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Energy and Power.    

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71418.67, down by 176.82 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 71139.11 and 71756.58. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.54%, while Small cap index down by 1.77%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.81%, TECK up by 0.67% and Healthcare up by 0.43%, while PSU down by 3.09%, Utilities down by 2.44%, Oil & Gas down by 2.26%, Energy down by 2.25% and Power down by 1.92% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.63%, HCL up by 2.57%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.02%, Infosys up by 0.85% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.41%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.60%, Tata Steel down by 1.42%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.39%, Indusind Bank down by 1.31% and SBI down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba has said that the government has provided nearly Rs 1.71 trillion as fertilisers subsidy during April-January period of FY24. He said the government provides subsidy on various fertilizers to ensure adequate availability of fertilizers at affordable prices to farmers.

The minister noted that the government has implemented Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) policy with effect from April 1, 2010, for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) Fertilizers. Under the policy, a fixed amount of subsidy, decided on annual/semi-annual basis, is provided on notified P&K fertilizers depending on their nutrient content. Besides, maximum retail price is fixed by fertilizer companies as per market dynamics at reasonable level which is monitored by the government. Accordingly, any farmer of India including poor and marginal farmers who buy these fertilizers gets benefits of subsidy. In the case of urea, he said urea is provided to the farmers at a statutorily notified. The price of a 45 kg bag of urea is Rs 242 per bag (exclusive of charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable).

He further said that the expenditure incurred on subsidy on fertilizers for the last five years stood at Rs 73,435.21 crore in 2018-19, Rs 83,466.51 crore in 2019-20, Rs 1,31,229.50 crore in 2020-21, Rs 1,57,640.63 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 2,54,798.88 crore during 2022-23 fiscal year.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21720.20, down by 62.30 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 21628.75 and 21831.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.63%, Apollo Hospital up by 3.53%, Divi's Lab up by 2.85%, HCL up by 2.72% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 5.34%, BPCL down by 4.44%, Coal India down by 4.06%, ONGC down by 2.95% and NTPC down by 2.54% were the top losers.

In the Asian markets, Jakarta Composite gained 36.65 points or 0.50% to 7,271.80.