Benchmarks continue to trade flat in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade flat in morning deals, as selling pressure mounted on Telecom and Power stocks, despite positive cues from global markets. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of the India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data to be out later in the week. Meanwhile, Atsushi Mimura, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Japan, and Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, held the 2nd India-Japan Finance Dialogue in Tokyo and agreed to continue discussions aimed at further promoting financial cooperation and strengthening bilateral relations. Sector-wise, Jewellery industry stocks remained in limelight as a Crisil report stated that revenues of organised gold jewellery retailers are expected to surge by 22-25 per cent this fiscal year, driven by the sharp reduction in import duties on gold in the July Budget. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as traders awaited US inflation data due this week for clues on the size of the Federal Reserve’s coming interest-rate cut. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81552.85, down by 6.69 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 81445.30 and 81801.22. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.38%, Power up by 1.19%, Utilities up by 1.02%, Healthcare up by 0.96% and TECK up by 0.78%, while Metal down by 0.49%, Oil & Gas down by 0.27%, Auto down by 0.25%, Energy down by 0.17% and Bankex down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.32%, NTPC up by 1.28%, Axis Bank up by 1.26%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.23% and Infosys up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.19%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.69%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.11%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.95% and SBI down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence that the auto component sector will reach the $100 billion export target by 2030, making the sector one of the largest job creators in the country. Goyal said that as India is progressing to become the third largest economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the auto sector must also strive to become the world leader from currently being the third largest auto market in the world.

Further, he urged the industry leaders to set a roadmap to achieve the target, besides stressing combining organic growth with outreach across the world along with technological improvements. He encouraged the industry members to focus on research and development (R&D). He urged the participants to take advantage of the Rs 1 lakh crore Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) fund and utilise it to support public-private academia partnerships in the auto sector.

He said that India’s auto sector is well poised to attract investment from abroad, and the industry can explore investment from EFTA countries. He also stated that India should be ready to capture the opportunities in new-age technologies like electric vehicles (EVs) and their related ecosystems, along with other upcoming opportunities like the bicycle sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24934.55, down by 1.85 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 24896.80 and 25014.80. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 3.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.48%, NTPC up by 1.47%, Axis Bank up by 1.30% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.29%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 3.04%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.87%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.34%, Shriram Finance down by 2.19% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 47.71 points or 0.28% to 17,244.67, Jakarta Composite gained 33.52 points or 0.44% to 7,736.26, Straits Times rose 13.29 points or 0.38% to 3,509.82 and Nikkei 225 surged 15.71 points or 0.04% to 36,231.46.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted lost 147.73 points or 0.7% to 20,996.71, Shanghai Composite weakened 14.48 points or 0.53% to 2,722.01 and KOSPI dropped 0.14 points or 0.01% to 2,535.79.