Weakness persists in Indian markets

A weakness persisted in Indian equity markets, with both Sensex and Nifty trading notably lower, on the back of selling at Consumer Durables and Banking stocks, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders were cautious after minutes from the Federal Reserve's January 30-31 meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates too quickly, fearing progress on inflation could stall out. The street overlooked Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal’s statement  that India is looked upon today as the centre of possibilities and the aspirational India will provide a demographic dividend which will help the growth of the India-Europe economic partnerships and geopolitical engagements. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after the Bank of Korea left its benchmark rate unchanged for the ninth consecutive meeting on Thursday and vowed to maintain a restrictive stance to stabilize inflation at 2 percent. The Monetary Policy Board, led by Governor Rhee Chang-yong, unanimously decided to maintain the key base rate at 3.50 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72343.73, down by 279.36 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 72081.36 and 72724.53. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.81%, Capital Goods up by 0.68%, Industrials up by 0.55%, IT up by 0.54% and Realty up by 0.49%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.92%, Bankex down by 0.79%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64%, PSU down by 0.16% and Energy down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 1.49%, ITC up by 1.02%, TCS up by 1.02%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.77% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.84%, Titan down by 1.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.61%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.52% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in its latest report has said that digital public infrastructures (DPIs) such as Aadhaar, UPI (Unified Payments Interface), and FASTag generated a value of $31.8 billion in 2022, contributing 0.9 per cent to India's GDP, and the contribution is projected to increase 2.9-4.2 per cent by 2030. It said Indian DPIs' foundational layers are based on transparency and trust, which promotes paperless transactions, reduces bureaucracy, and advances the concept of digital identity and document management.

According to the report, by 2030, adoption across matured and budding DPIs has the potential to scale up. The economic value add of these DPIs by 2030 has the potential increase to 2.9-4 per cent of GDP from 0.9 per cent in 2022. It said that presently over 30 countries are either adopting or in early discussions to implement India's DPIs like UPI, Aadhaar, and Beckn in their countries for boosting social and financial inclusion. India leads globally in developing DPIs, driving societal transformation through inclusive digital adoption and substantial contributions to the Indian economy.

The report further said DPIs hold vast potential in revolutionising the entire Indian economy and the world and paints a hopeful picture of an interconnected, open, inclusive world with infinite possibilities, empowering each and every one across the globe. India's position as a global leader in developing DPIs has been enabled by the support of the government, the IT intellectual capital, and the start-up ecosystem.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21967.90, down by 87.15 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 21875.25 and 22094.30. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.96%, Eicher Motors up by 1.70%, HCL Tech. up by 1.39%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.00% and ITC up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.94%, Titan down by 2.07%, BPCL down by 1.97%, Grasim Industries down by 1.91% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 156.74 points or 0.95% to 16,659.84, Taiwan Weighted added 176.47 points or 0.94% to 18,852.78, Straits Times rose 0.04 points or 0% to 3,217.15, Shanghai Composite strengthened 36.76 points or 1.25% to 2,987.72, KOSPI increased 10.96 points or 0.41% to 2,664.27 and Nikkei 225 surged 836.52 points or 2.14% to 39,098.68, while Jakarta Composite plunged 8.22 points or 0.11% to 7,340.80.