Markets trade flat after negative start on Wednesday

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday amid mixed Asian cues and foreign fund outflows. As per NSE data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 2,784.14 crore. Overnight jump in crude oil prices also dampened sentiments in domestic markets. Oil prices climbed on Tuesday on reports of monetary stimulus from China, the world’s top crude importer, and amid concerns that growing conflict in the Middle East could hit regional supply. Soon, markets managed to recover lost ground and are trading flat in early deals. Some support came as Moody’s Analytics in its new Asia Pacific outlook noted that the Indian economy will likely grow faster at 7.1% in 2024 from 6.8% projected earlier. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan after China's central bank unveiled its biggest stimulus since the pandemic to support the nation's economy, primarily the property sector. Besides, the Bank of Japan said producer prices in Japan were up 2.7 percent on year in August.

Back home, stocks of IT hardware companies are in focus after the Centre extended the import management system for laptops and other IT hardware products for three more months - till December 31 - and asked companies to seek fresh approvals for imports based on new guidelines from January 1. In stock specific development, Power Grid leads the gainers on the indices after it was declared as the successful bidder to establish an inter-state transmission system. NMDC climbed after reporting 7% YoY increase in iron ore production.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84924.75, up by 10.71 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 84743.04 and 84950.35. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.81%, Auto up by 0.68%, Power up by 0.63%, Utilities up by 0.53% and Basic Materials up by 0.34%, while Realty down by 0.94%, IT down by 0.63%, TECK down by 0.54%, FMCG down by 0.46% and Oil & Gas down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.43%, HDFC Bank up by 0.99%, Tata Steel up by 0.50% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.70%, Asian Paints down by 1.11%, HCL Technologies down by 0.99%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.66% and Reliance Industries down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said a series of measures to improve ease of doing business, zero tolerance for corruption and the focused effort on emerging sectors like electronics have helped promote 'Make In India' and boost both domestic and foreign investments in the country. He said ‘We have achieved great success and a brilliant future is ahead for manufacturing in the country as the 'Make in India' programme is celebrating its 10 years’. The 'Make in India' initiative was launched on September 25, 2014, to facilitate investment, foster innovation, build world-class infrastructure, and make India a hub for manufacturing, design, and innovation. It is one of the unique 'Vocal for Local' initiatives that promoted the country's manufacturing domain to the world.

Goyal said ‘We are seeing very big investment plans on the anvil which will create millions of jobs and expand our manufacturing contribution to the economy’. Recalling the journey of the initiative, he said that the Modi-government started with 'very' tough times as the mood of investments both domestically and internationally was 'very' low in 2014 and businesses were not sure about the future. Internationally, the image of the country was down and the country was categorised as a 'fragile five' economy, he said adding it took this government some time to earn the trust of investors. He said ‘But that happened very quickly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he took very bold decisions whether it is one nation one tax - GST, whether it is IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code), or putting in place a transparent process for auction of mines’.

He said the government also gave investors stable and predictable policies, with a commitment not to do retrospective amendments. Due to measures like digitisation and simplifying procedures, India's rank in the ease of doing business climbed 14 rungs to 63 among 190 countries. He added ‘Zero tolerance for corruption, and the focused effort on emerging sectors for promoting Make in India ignited the investments both domestically and internationally’. He also said ‘And 10 years later, we are both redeemed by the results and excited about the future. In many areas, we have seen significant progress like in mobiles, we are now world's second largest manufacturers with production going on from only two factories to 200 in this field’.

Besides, sectors like steel, and cement where demand was generated because of a significant ramp-up in infrastructure funding, India witnessed massive investments and growth under the Make in India programme. The government's initiatives in other segments such as textiles, ceramics, toys, plastics, chemicals, and pharma, have resulted in an increase in domestic capacities which have met the needs of India as well as helped boost the country's exports which reached an all-time high of $778 billion in 2023-24. The minister expressed confidence that with the increasing momentum seen under the Make in India programme, 'we believe that the share of manufacturing will also start increasing in the coming years'.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25937.15, down by 3.25 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 25891.70 and 25951.75. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.10%, Hindalco up by 1.25%, HDFC Bank up by 0.92% and Eicher Motors up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.40%, Asian Paints down by 1.09%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.00%, Britannia Industries down by 0.98% and Wipro down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng jumped 381.98 points or 2.01% to 19,382.54, Taiwan Weighted surged 278.39 points or 1.24% to 22,710.17, Shanghai Composite strengthened 49.52 points or 1.7% to 2,912.65, Nikkei 225 rose 38.21 points or 0.1% to 37,978.80. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite plunged 84.19 points or 1.08% to 7,694.30, Straits Times fell 23.04 points or 0.64% to 3,599.70 and KOSPI was down by 1.98 points or 0.08% to 2,629.70.