Weak trade continues over Dalal Street

A weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, impacted by negative cues from other Asian markets along with heavy selling at IT and TECK counters. 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. There was some anxiety among traders, after Paul Gruenwald, Global Chief Economist at S&P Global Ratings, said that the global economic growth is likely to surprise on the upside and hence he sees only modest headwinds for India next fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the services sector in China continued to expand in February, albeit at a slower pace, with a services PMI score of 52.5. That's down from 52.7 in January, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The slower rise in business activity coincided with a further mild upturn in overall new work placed with Chinese service providers during February.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73618.88, down by 253.41 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 73412.25 and 73788.84. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.37%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.33%, Realty up by 0.66%, PSU up by 0.49%, Utilities up by 0.39% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.33%, while IT down by 1.55%, TECK down by 0.96%, FMCG down by 0.77%, Industrials down by 0.54% and Healthcare down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.11%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.35%, SBI up by 1.24% and NTPC up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.85%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.73%, Wipro down by 1.60%, TCS down by 1.56% and Nestle down by 1.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda has said that the government has launched a mission to boost production of oilseeds and reduce imports of cooking oils. He said the central government has done the work of eliminating the gaps in the development of agriculture in the northeastern states and bringing them into the mainstream.

Munda said the government is working with the resolve to make the country a developed nation by 2047, in which the role of agriculture is very important. He highlighted that a mission of Rs 11,000 crore is being run to reduce the burden of edible oil imports and become self-reliant in oilseeds. He said ‘we have to work with the thought that in the coming days, we will not import but export’.

The minister said India imports about 16 million tonnes of edible oils annually to meet domestic demand. In terms of value, India imported edible oils worth about Rs 1.38 lakh crore during 2022-23 (November-October). He also stressed the development of climate-resilient crop varieties. He emphasised linking agriculture education to livelihood and employment opportunities. He said biodiversity studies also need special attention. He hoped that in a year, this institute would be the most preferred choice for research. He emphasised that technologies have to be climate-neutral and gender-neutral.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22332.85, down by 72.75 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 22269.15 and 22406.55. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%, SBI up by 1.28% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.86%, Infosys down by 1.82%, Wipro down by 1.70%, LTIMindtree down by 1.66% and Nestle down by 1.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng fell 413.51 points 2.49% to 16,182.46, Straits Times lost 13.74 points 0.44% to 3,108.47, KOSPI Index dropped 24.87 points or 0.93% to 2,649.4, Jakarta Composite dipped by 18.84 points or 0.26% to 7,257.91, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lower by 13.9 points or 0.9% to 1,525.37 and Nikkei 225 declined by 11.6 points 0.03% to 40,097.63, while Taiwan Weighted rose 81.61 points or 0.42% to 19,386.92, Shanghai Composite increased by 12.37 points or 0.41% to 3,051.68.