Markets off day’s lows but remain in red

Indian equity benchmarks came off from their intraday low points, on account of buying at Auto and FMCG counters, however, they remained in red, as bears continued to hold their grip over the Dalal Street, after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated reciprocal tariffs plans for India. Negative cues from other Asia markets also impacted sentiments over the Street, However, some losses got trimmed, as traders got some relief, after retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers eased to 4.61% and 4.73%, respectively, compared to 7.52% and 7.37% in January 2024. The All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) and Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) decreased by 4 points & 3 points, respectively for the month of January 2025, reaching 1316 and 1328 points.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even as Singapore's consumer price inflation softened unexpectedly at the start of the year. The data published by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed that the consumer price index rose 1.2 percent on a yearly basis in January, slower than the 1.5 percent increase in December. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74685.24, down by 625.82 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 74493.97 and 74907.04. There were 7 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.24%, FMCG up by 0.23%, Healthcare up by 0.08% and Consumer Durables up by 0.07%, while IT down by 2.21%, TECK down by 2.12%, Telecom down by 1.65%, Metal down by 1.14% and Power down by 0.73% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.19%, Nestle up by 0.71%, ITC up by 0.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.22% and Tata Motors up by 0.16%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 3.10%, Infosys down by 2.50%, Zomato down by 2.04%, TCS down by 1.88% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that bank credit as well as deposits witnessed deceleration during the October-December quarter (Q3FY25) sequentially. Bank credit growth (y-o-y) decelerated to 11.8 per cent in December 2024 from 12.6 per cent in September 2024, while aggregate deposits increased at a marginally lower pace at 11 per cent as compared to 11.7 per cent growth in July-September period. Personal loans, which have large share (31.5 per cent) in total credit, recorded moderation in annual growth to 13.7 per cent (15.2 per cent a quarter ago). Credit to agriculture and industry sectors also recorded some tempering in the growth. On the other hand, bank lending for trade, finance and professional/ other services accelerated during the third quarter of 2024-25.

The data showed that lending to public sector organisations accelerated to 5.4 per cent in December 2024 as compared to 0.3 per cent in the preceding quarter. Its share in total credit stood at 13.6 per cent. Bank charged 8 per cent to less than 10 per cent interest rate on over half of the loan amount and nearly 16 per cent of the loans were bearing less than 8 per cent interest rate; the remaining loans were bearing 10 per cent or above interest rate. The data regarding 'Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks - December 2024' revealed that term deposits rose by 14.3 per cent (y-o-y) as compared to 5.1 per cent growth in saving deposits in December 2024. As a result, the share of term deposits in total deposits rose to 62.1 per cent from 60.3 per cent a year ago.

RBI further said the share of deposits bearing 7 per cent or above interest rate in total term deposits increased to 70.8 per cent in December 2024 from 61.4 per cent a year ago. With rise in return on term deposits, nearly 79.8 per cent of the incremental term deposits mobilised during April-December 2024 were held in the original maturity bucket of one to three years; on an outstanding basis, over two third of term deposits were in this maturity bucket and another 11 per cent had higher original maturity. During April-December 2024, 56.1 per cent of the total term deposits were of size Rs 1 crore and above.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22607.70, down by 188.20 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 22548.35 and 22668.05. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.51%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.26%, Eicher Motors up by 1.16%, Nestle up by 0.76% and BPCL up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.12%, HCL Tech. down by 3.04%, Infosys down by 2.60%, TCS down by 2.00% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 170.1 points or 0.72% to 23,307.82, Jakarta Composite plunged 55.78 points or 0.83% to 6,747.22, Shanghai Composite weakened 17.61 points or 0.52% to 3,361.50, KOSPI dropped 11.54 points or 0.43% to 2,643.04 and Taiwan Weighted lost 164.94 points or 0.7% to 23,565.31, while Straits Times rose 9.15 points or 0.23% to 3,939.09.