Benchmarks remain in red in late morning deals

Indian equity markets remained in red and were trading slightly lower in late morning deals on account of selling in Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and Ultratech Cement companies’ stocks. Weak cues from the global markets weighed on the domestic sentiments. Sentiments remained fragile as higher energy prices and hawkish comments from Fed officials spurred concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (RBI MPC) has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the seventh consecutive time. However, broader indices were trading higher with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.45-0.50%. Traders were getting some encouragement as the United Nations has said that India has become the world’s fastest-growing major economy in 2023 amid strong household consumption and public investment in infrastructure. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following negative cues from the US markets overnight as comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials fueled worries that the central bank could hold off on rate cuts. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  Realty, Healthcare, PSU, Bankex and FMCG, while selling was witnessed in TECK, Capital Goods, Metal, IT and Oil & Gas. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74143.46, down by 84.17 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 73946.92 and 74287.02. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.43%, Healthcare up by 0.50%, PSU up by 0.27%, Bankex up by 0.19% and FMCG up by 0.19%, while TECK down by 0.44%, Capital Goods down by 0.44%, Metal down by 0.43%, IT down by 0.36% and Oil & Gas down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 1.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.71%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.53%, Sun Pharma up by 0.37% and SBI up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.54%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.54%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.21%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.21% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Power Minister R K Singh has said that the government has asked all power plants to operate at full capacity as it pulls all the stops to meet peak electricity demand in the searing summer season. With the meteorological department forecasting a harsh and long summer, the government has asked all plants that are shut for maintenance or other reasons, to quickly start operating and harness surplus power available at generating stations dedicated to specific users. He said the government is also ensuring that thermal power plants – the backbone of India’s electricity supply – have enough coal stocks to last through June and has asked all units to offer their uncontracted or surplus power in power exchanges. 

He said the Ministry of Power has projected a peak power demand of 260 gigawatt (GW) this summer (April-June), higher than the record of 243 GW in September last year. The ministry had projected 229GW of peak power demand last year, but due to unseasonal rains the all-time high demand was recorded at 243GW in September 2023. However, this year the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that India is set to experience extreme heat during the April-June (summer) period, with the central and western peninsular parts expected to face the worst impact. Besides, above-normal heatwave days are likely over most parts of the plains during summer.

The minister informed that power demand has improved 9.5 per cent in the last year. The peak demand in 2013-14 was 130 GW to 140 GW. Today it is 243 GW. So it has gone up by 80 per cent. He also informed that India has added capacity of about 200 GW which is mostly renewable. Explaining about efforts being made to meet the ever-increasing power demand in the country, he said ‘we are adding more capacity. We are setting up about 80 GW of thermal capacity. We have about 15 GW of hydro capacity under construction. I also have 103 GW of renewable energy capacity under construction.’ He also said that India’s peak power demand would touch 400 GW by 2032.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22487.25, down by 27.40 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 22427.60 and 22517.10. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Bank up by 1.43%, SBI Life up by 1.10%, Divi's Lab up by 0.99%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.91% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.75%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.95%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.61%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.48%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.37% and Hindalco down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 56.88 points or 0.34% to 16,668.22, Nikkei 225 slipped 802.29 points or 2.02% to 38,970.85, Straits Times fell 22.64 points or 0.7% to 3,212.37 and KOSPI dropped 26.29 points or 0.96% to 2,715.71. However, Jakarta Composite gained 29.04 points or 0.4% to 7,283.44.