Markets turn positive in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets wiped out all their losses and hit green trend in late afternoon session following positive cues from European markets. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded in green. Investors got support as 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, on account of fall in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, non-food articles and food articles. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, after data showing bigger than expected increase in U.S. consumer price inflation in January reduced the possibility of a rate cut by the US Fed anytime soon. European markets were trading mostly in green as U.S. stock futures nudged higher after a slump previous day on interest rate concerns. Also, there was some cheer as the latest U.K. inflation data came in slightly below expectations.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 71664.07, up by 108.88 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 70809.84 and 71695.71. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 1.00%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 3.06%, PSU up by 2.88%, Energy up by 2.46%, Metal up by 1.35% and Power was up by 1.29%, while IT down by 1.24%, TECK down by 1.08%, Healthcare down by 0.95% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.80%, Tata Steel up by 1.74%, Indusind Bank up by 1.10%, Reliance Industries up by 1.06% and Axis Bank up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.59%, Infosys down by 1.76%, Sun Pharma down by 1.49%, HDFC Bank down by 1.44% and TCS down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, 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, on account of fall in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, non-food articles and food articles. However, prices of minerals increased in January 2024 as compared to December 2023. 

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 0.39% to 154.8 (provisional) in January 2024 from 154.2 (provisional) for the month of December 2023. Prices of electricity increased in January 2024 as compared to December 2023, while prices of coal and mineral oils declined in January 2024 as compared to December 2023.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, declined by 0.21% to 139.8 (provisional) in January 2024 from 140.1 (provisional) for the month of December 2023, on the back of decrease in prices of food products; basic metals; other manufacturing; chemicals and chemical products; other non-metallic mineral products etc. in January 2024 as compared to December 2023. Meanwhile, for the month of November 2023 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 153.1 and 0.39% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21790.75, up by 47.50 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 21530.20 and 21798.55. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 5.96%, SBI up by 4.72%, ONGC up by 3.03%, Coal India up by 2.42% and Tata Steel up by 1.78%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.52%, Cipla down by 2.49%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.70%, Infosys down by 1.70% and Sun Pharma down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 260.65 points or 0.69% to 37,703.32, Jakarta Composite plunged 87.93 points or 1.22% to 7,209.74, KOSPI dropped 29.22 points or 1.12% to 2,620.42 and Straits Times was down by 6.79 points or 0.22% to 3,135.08. On the flip side, Hang Seng was up by 132.8 points or 0.84% to 15,879.38.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.64 points or 0.31% to 7,535.92 and France’s CAC was down by 5.24 points or 0.07% to 7,630.55. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by 22.85 points or 0.14% to 16,857.98.