Markets continue to trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat in morning deals amid mixed cues from Asian markets. Traders remained cautious with a report of economic think tank GTRI stating that with escalating everyday attacks and no end in sight, the Red Sea crisis will adversely impact trade volumes in substantial ways in 2024. The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that rising shipping, and insurance costs and delayed arrival of shipments will continue to disrupt global value chains, squeeze margins, and make exports of many low-margin products unviable from current locations. Some concern also came as India's industrial production growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in January 2024, mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors. However, traders took some support as Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that during this fiscal (FY24), the country's goods and services export numbers will be at the same level; as it was last year despite slowdown and uncertainties in the global trade. He also said that the government measures such production-linked incentives (PLI) schemes and focus on high-quality goods and services would help in containing the country's trade deficit. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as data showed that U.S. inflation continued to ease but much of core inflation remains sticky, effectively closing the door on the possibility of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut before June.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73672.63, up by 4.67 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 73573.44 and 74052.75. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.75%, while Small cap index was down by 2.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.70%, IT up by 0.07% and Bankex up by 0.04%, while Utilities down by 4.73%, Power down by 4.06%, PSU down by 3.19%, Metal down by 2.34% and Energy down by 2.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 6.48%, Nestle up by 1.85%, ICICI Bank up by 0.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.85% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 5.02%, NTPC down by 4.78%, Tata Steel down by 2.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.36% and Tata Motors down by 1.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, remaining within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) comfort zone of 6 per cent for the sixth month in a row, India’s retail inflation eased to a four-month low of 5.09 per cent in February 2024. The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was almost unchanged compared to the January number of 5.10 per cent, though prices of certain items in the food basket firmed up. The RBI has been tasked by the government to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in February 2024 stood at 5.34 per cent same as 5.34 per cent in January 2024. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 4.78 per cent in February as against 4.92 per cent in January. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 187.4, 184.0 and 185.8 respectively, in February 2024. The price data are collected from selected 1114 urban Markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster. 

The food basked has nearly 50 per cent weight in the CPI. The inflation in the food basket rose marginally to 8.66 per cent in February from 8.30 per cent in the preceding month. Inflation in Vegetables was 30.25 per cent, Pulses and products 18.90 per cent, Fruits 4.83 per cent, Cereals and products 7.60 per cent, Spices 13.51 per cent. However, Oils and fats recorded negative inflation at 13.97 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22287.05, down by 48.65 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 22260.75 and 22446.75. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 6.34%, Nestle up by 1.78%, Britannia Industries up by 1.56%, ICICI Bank up by 1.05% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 5.37%, NTPC down by 5.03%, Coal India down by 3.83%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 3.79% and Adani Enterprises down by 3.59% were the top losers. 

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 45.25 points or 0.26% to 17,138.75, Straits Times rose 18.97 points or 0.6% to 3,160.44, KOSPI increased 4.65 points or 0.17% to 2,686.46 and Jakarta Composite gained 28.93 points or 0.39% to 7,410.84.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 29.51 points or 0.08% to 38,768.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 36.01 points or 0.18% to 19,878.54 and Shanghai Composite weakened 8.09 points or 0.27% to 3,047.85.