Benchmarks extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, due to losses in IT and TECK stocks. Traders remained cautious with provisional data from the NSE showed Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 564.06 crore on March 4. Traders overlooked data showing that India's services activity continued to expand in February, with the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the sector coming in at 60.6. At 60.6, the February services PMI is below the flash estimate of 62.0 released on February 22. It is, however, above the key level of 50, which separates expansion in activity from contraction, for the 31st month in a row. Traders also paid no heed towards report released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showing that India’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.1 per cent in 2023 from 3.6 per cent in the preceding year, reflecting continued improvement in the labour markets. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and key jobs data for further clues on the U.S. central bank's rate trajectory.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73462.46, down by 409.83 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 73428.84 and 73788.84. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.22%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.36%, Realty up by 0.70%, Consumer Disc up by 0.36%, PSU up by 0.08% and Utilities up by 0.03%, while IT down by 1.64%, TECK down by 1.31%, Consumer Durables down by 0.64%, FMCG down by 0.61% and Industrials down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 6.00%, SBI up by 0.69%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.55%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.28% and NTPC up by 0.25%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.08%, Infosys down by 1.80%, HCL Technologies down by 1.21%, Reliance Industries down by 0.96% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Central Electricity Authority Chairperson Ghanshyam Prasad has said that peak power demand in the country is estimated to rise by 7 percent year-on-year to 260 GW this summer. The peak power demand during the summer of 2023 touched 243 GW against a projection of 229 GW.

The power ministry had estimated the country's electricity demand to touch 229 GW during summers in 2023, but it did not reach the projected level in April-July due to unseasonal rainfall. Peak supply, however, touched a new high of 224.1 GW in June before dropping to 209.03 GW in July.

Peak demand touched 238.82 GW in August 2023, while it was 243.27 GW in September, 222.16 GW in October, 204.77 GW in November, 213.79 GW in December 2023, and 222.73 GW in January 2024. Power consumption was affected in March, April, May and June last year due to widespread rainfall. The power consumption grew in August, September and October, mainly due to humid weather conditions and also a pick-up in industrial activities ahead of the festive season.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22300.40, down by 105.20 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 22278.65 and 22406.55. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 6.07%, UPL up by 1.90%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.46%, SBI up by 0.67% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.59%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.94%, Infosys down by 1.68%, HCL Technologies down by 1.36%, LTIMindtree down by 1.30% and Reliance Industries down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 14.93 points or 0.56% to 2,659.34, Hang Seng declined 423.03 points or 2.55% to 16,172.94, Straits Times fell 11.47 points or 0.37% to 3,110.74 and Jakarta Composite plunged 20.92 points or 0.29% to 7,255.83.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 62.83, points or 0.16% to 40,172.88, Taiwan Weighted added 137.84 points or 0.71% to 19,443.15 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.77 points or 0.19% to 3,045.07.