Sensex, Nifty trade under pressure in early deals; IT, TECK stocks led losers

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-negative start on Monday after U.S. equities fell sharply on Friday, dragged down by technology stocks amid rising global uncertainties and caution ahead of the year-end holiday season. Sensex and Nifty are trading under pressure in early deals amid selling at IT and TECK counters. Foreign fund outflows weighted on sentiments. FIIs net sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,323.29 crore on December 27. Traders were concerned as data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $8.4 billion to $644 billion in the week ended December 20. However, down side remained capped with a private report indicated that Indian economy is likely to grow at 6.5-6.8 per cent this fiscal and slightly higher between 6.7-7.3 per cent in FY2026.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, on higher bond yields and as traders assessed the likely move of the US Fed with regard to interest rates. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is pinning down sentiment. Besides, the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in December, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Monday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6.

Back home, Power stocks are in limelight with report that India will set up more coal-fired and hydro-power plants and ramp up transmission infrastructure to achieve round-the-clock Power for All in 2025, besides meeting rising demand fuelled by economic expansion. In stock specific development, Vodafone Idea jumped on positive news regarding the waiver of bank guarantees and settlement of Rs. 11,650 crore debt.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78544.61, down by 154.46 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 78395.50 and 78703.27. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.54%, Power up by 0.39%, Telecom up by 0.37%, Realty up by 0.32% and Healthcare up by 0.17%, while IT down by 0.96%, TECK down by 0.72%, Auto down by 0.56%, Consumer Durables down by 0.32% and Consumer discretionary down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.21%, Zomato up by 0.87%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.58%, ICICI Bank up by 0.35% and NTPC up by 0.28%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.42%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.81%, HCL Tech. down by 0.80% and Titan Company down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) latest data has showed that India's current account deficit (CAD) moderated marginally to $11.2 billion or 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) year-on-year in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2024-25. The CAD, an indicator of the country's external payment scenario, was $11.3 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP during the second quarter of 2023-24. During April-September 2024 (H1 2024-25), the current account deficit was $21.4 billion or 1.2 per cent of GDP compared to $20.2 billion (1.2 per cent of GDP) in the year-ago period.

As per the RBI's data on Balance of Payments, merchandise trade deficit increased to $75.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024-25 from $64.5 billion in the comparable period of 2023-24. Net services receipts increased to $44.5 billion in Q2 2024-25 from $39.9 billion a year ago. Services exports have risen, on a year-on-year basis, across major categories like computer services, business services, travel services and transportation services. 

The data showed further, private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to $31.9 billion in the July-September quarter in 2024-25 from $28.1 billion in the second quarter of 2023-24. In the financial account, it said net foreign direct investment recorded an outflow of $2.2 billion in Q2 2024-25 compared to $0.8 billion outflow in the corresponding period of 2023-24. Net inflows under foreign portfolio investment increased to $19.9 billion in Q2 2024-25 from $4.9 billion a year ago. 

During April-September 2024, the RBI data showed that net invisibles receipts at $119.0 billion were higher in H1 2024-25 against $101 billion a year ago, primarily on account of higher net services receipts. Also, net FDI inflows at $4.4 billion in H1:2024-25 was higher than $3.9 billion in H1:2023-24. FPI recorded net inflows of $20.8 billion in H1:2024-25 compared to net inflows of $20.7 billion a year ago. In H1 2024-25, there was an accretion of $23.8 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23777.65, down by 35.75 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 23709.10 and 23818.80. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 3.82%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.99%, Shriram Finance up by 0.94%, ICICI Bank up by 0.44% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.41%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.28%, Wipro down by 1.18%, Trent down by 1.02%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.92% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 378.73 points or 0.94% to 39,902.43, Hang Seng declined 113.98 points or 0.57% to 19,976.48, Taiwan Weighted lost 18.54 points or 0.08% to 23,257.14, Jakarta Composite weakened 14.13 points or 0.2% to 7,022.44 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.02 points or 0.09% to 3,397.12. On the other hand, Straits Times rose 14.57 points or 0.39% to 3,786.20 and KOSPI was up by 6.30 points or 0.26% to 2,411.07.