Benchmarks continue to trade marginally in red

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in red in morning deals, due to a lack of major triggers. Traders remained cautious as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran stated that India is well-positioned for strong global economic growth, but the country must be cautious of financialization as it progresses towards becoming a developed nation by 2047. Nageswaran highlighted the risks of an oversized financial market influencing public policy and economic outcomes, a trend that he believes India should avoid. Weakness in Asian peers also contributed to the tepid investors’ sentiments in the domestic equity markets. Sector-wise, stocks related to agriculture remained in limelight after the government gave the green light to seven major agricultural schemes, totaling around Rs 14,000 crore. This includes a Rs 2,817 crore Digital Agriculture Mission and a Rs 3,979 crore scheme dedicated to crop science. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red tracking muted cues from global markets due to jitters over China's economy and ahead of the release of the U.S. jobs report later in the week that could shed additional light on the Fed's rate path. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82456.58, down by 103.26 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 82417.09 and 82675.06. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.71%, Consumer Durables up by 0.66%, FMCG up by 0.61%, Healthcare up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.60% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, Energy down by 0.35%, Utilities down by 0.30%, Metal down by 0.20%, Bankex down by 0.20% were the top losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.96%, Nestle up by 0.84%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.64%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.60% and Sun Pharma up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.73%, JSW Steel down by 0.72%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.72%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 0.64% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the commercial vehicles (CV) wholesale volume may witness year-on-year growth of up to 3 per cent in current fiscal year. It had earlier estimated 4-7 per cent decline in CV volume for FY25.

It stated that the change in projection is due to better-than-expected volume growth in first four months of the current fiscal and expectations of a marginal uptick in demand in the second half of the year. It added FY25 will be the second consecutive year of muted growth for the CV segment after a 1 per cent and 3 per cent year-on-year growth in wholesale and retail sales, respectively last fiscal.

Moreover, it said the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (trucks) volume in FY25 is expected to grow 0-3 per cent YoY, given the high base effect and the impact of general elections on infrastructure activities in the first few months of the fiscal. It added domestic light commercial vehicles (trucks) wholesale volume is expected to show muted growth in FY25 due to a high base effect, sustained slowdown in e-commerce and cannibalisation from electric three-wheelers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25256.10, down by 22.60 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 25241.20 and 25321.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Product up by 1.44%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.25%, ITC up by 0.89%, Nestle up by 0.74% and Wipro up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.83%, BPCL down by 1.20%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.93%, JSW Steel down by 0.70% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 64.92 points or 0.37% to 17,627.05, Jakarta Composite plunged 50.37 points or 0.65% to 7,644.16, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.56 points or 0.52% to 2,796.48, KOSPI dropped 7.58 points or 0.28% to 2,673.42, Nikkei 225 slipped 24.69 points or 0.06% to 38,676.18 and Taiwan Weighted lost 98.25 points or 0.44% to 22,136.85.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 12.01 points or 0.35% to 3,475.09.