Sensex, Nifty stage some recovery amid easing WPI inflation

Trimming some of their losses, Indian equity benchmarks staged some recovery in early afternoon deals, amid easing WPI inflation along with heavy buying at Oil & Gas and PSU counters. Inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased in the month of January 2024 to 0.27% from a nine-month high of 0.73% in December 2023, amid lower prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, non-food articles and food articles. The Component wise, primary articles index, declined 1.04% to 181.0 (provisional) in January 2024 from 182.9 (provisional) for the month of December 2023. However, weakness remained over the Dalal Street, after sticky US inflation data - more than estimated at 3.1 per cent in January -- triggered worries of further delay in the easing of interest rates. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Japan's machine tool orders declined for the thirteenth straight month in January, largely due to weak domestic demand. The preliminary data from the Japan Machine Tool Builders Association, or JMTBA, showed that machine tool orders fell 14.1 percent year-on-year in January, which was faster than the 9.6 percent decline in the previous month. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71245.77, down by 309.42 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 70809.84 and 71292.72. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.02%, PSU up by 1.55%, Energy up by 1.54%, Telecom up by 0.84% and Utilities up by 0.69%, while IT down by 1.77%, TECK down by 1.55%, Healthcare down by 1.23% and Consumer Durables down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.53%, Tata Steel up by 0.98%, ITC up by 0.91%, ICICI Bank up by 0.79% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.01%, Infosys down by 2.30%, Sun Pharma down by 1.83%, TCS down by 1.74% and HDFC Bank down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in its latest data has showed that domestic passenger vehicle wholesales rose 14 per cent year-on-year to 3,93,074 units in January 2024, amid robust demand for utility vehicles. It said dispatches of passenger vehicle from manufacturers to dealers stood at 3,46,080 units in January 2023.  

According to the data, two-wheeler wholesales rose 26 per cent to 14,95,183 units in January 2024 as compared with 11,84,376 units in January last year. Three-wheeler wholesales witnessed a growth of 9 per cent at 53,537 units as against 48,903 units in January 2023. 

SIAM President Vinod Aggarwal said passenger vehicle sales have remained resilient led by positive consumer sentiments, while the two-wheeler segment witnessed good growth in January as well as the rural market continues to recover. He added that though the commercial vehicle sector did not grow in January 2024, it is likely to see good offtake in the next two months of this financial year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21663.50, down by 79.75 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 21530.20 and 21681.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 5.30%, ONGC up by 2.18%, Coal India up by 1.72%, SBI up by 1.50% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.97%, Cipla down by 2.73%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.48%, Infosys down by 2.33% and LTIMindtree down by 1.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times fell 7.8 points or 0.25% to 3,134.07, KOSPI dropped 29.22 points or 1.12% to 2,620.42 and Nikkei 225 slipped 260.65 points or 0.69% to 37,703.32, while Hang Seng advanced 146.42 points or 0.93% to 15,893.00.