Domestic indices trade in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets were trading in red in late morning deals on account of selling by funds and retail investors. Sensex was falling around 300 points and Nifty was dropping over 150 points. Meanwhile, the broader markets were facing the heat of selling; the BSE mid-cap index declined by 2.41 per cent and the small-cap index was down 3.37 per cent. Selling in Larsen & Toubro, Titan, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries dragged the markets lower. Traders were concerned as growth in factory output, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.8 per cent in January 2024, mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors. Most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in red, with only exception of FMCG counter. Stocks from Utilities, Power, PSU, Telecom and Industrials counters were the prominent losers. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from US markets overnight, reflected a positive reaction to the highly anticipated report on US consumer price inflation in February, which showed a slowdown in U.S. core price growth and raised optimism about the US Fed cutting interest rates in June. Back home, in the stock specific development, Jet Airways jumped after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld the transfer of ownership of the grounded airline to Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73370.55, down by 297.41 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 73275.34 and 74052.75. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 2.41%, while Small cap index down by 3.37%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was FMCG up by 1.34%, while Utilities down by 5.07%, Power down by 4.46%, PSU down by 3.71%, Telecom down by 3.18% and Industrials down by 2.92% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 6.25%, Nestle up by 1.42%, ICICI Bank up by 0.64%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.38% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 5.42%, NTPC down by 4.96%, Tata Steel down by 3.21%, Titan down by 2.35% and Larsen & Toubro down by 2.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, growth in factory output, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.8 per cent in January 2024, mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors. It was 5.8 in January 2023. The IIP figures for December 2023 was revised upward to 4.2 per cent from 3.8 per cent earlier estimate. For the month of January 2024, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 153.0. According to the data, during the April-January period of this fiscal, IIP growth touched 5.9 per cent, up from 5.5 per cent in the year ago period.

As per the latest data, the manufacturing sector's output growth decelerated to 3.2 per cent in January against 4.5 per cent a year ago. The power generation growth also slowed to 5.6 per cent in January from 12.7 per cent growth in the year ago period. The mining output growth decelerated to 5.9 per cent in the month under review against 9 per cent. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of January 2024 stood at 144.1, 150.1 and 197.1 respectively.

As per use based classification, primary goods segment growth fell to 2.9 per cent in January 2024 from 9.8 per cent in a year ago. The capital goods segment growth fell to 4.1 per cent in January 2024 compared to a growth of 10.5 per cent in the year ago period. Intermediate goods segment growth rose to 4.8 per cent in January 2024 from 1.4 per cent in a year ago. 

Infrastructure/ Construction goods segment growth fell to 4.6 per cent in January 2024 from 11.3 per cent in a year ago. In January this year, consumer durables output expanded 10.9 per cent. It had contracted by 8.2 per cent in January 2023. Consumer nondurable goods output declined by 0.3 per cent compared to a 6.5 per cent expansion in January 2023.

The indices stood at 154.2 for Primary Goods, 109.2 for Capital Goods, 163.0 for Intermediate Goods and 185.0 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of January 2024. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 120.7 and 163.9 respectively for the month of January 2024.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22184.45, down by 151.25 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 22167.20 and 22446.75. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 6.13%, Britannia up by 1.15%, Nestle up by 0.92%, ICICI Bank up by 0.62% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.29%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 5.42%, Adani Enterprises down by 5.39%, NTPC down by 4.95%, Adani Ports down by 4.81% and Coal India down by 4.01% were the top losers. 

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 104.33 points or 0.61% to 17,197.83, Taiwan Weighted added 7.2 points or 0.04% to 19,921.75, Straits Times rose 17.29 points or 0.55% to 3,158.76, KOSPI increased 12.90 points or 0.48% to 2,694.71, Shanghai Composite strengthened 3 points or 0.1% to 3,058.94 and Jakarta Composite gained 27.81 points or 0.38% to 7,409.72. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 114.34 points or 0.3% to 38,683.17.