Barometer gauges continue to trade deep in red

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade deep in red in morning session, with Sensex and Nifty plunging over 650 and 180 points respectively, amid foreign fund outflows and a largely weak Asian markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,209.10 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Investors overlooked commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that actual investments under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes were Rs 1.46 lakh crore till August and expected to increase to Rs 2 lakh crore in the coming years. This has resulted in production/sales worth Rs 12.5 lakh crore and employment generation of around 9.5 lakh (direct & indirect) which is expected to reach 12 lakh soon. Sector-wise, metal stocks remained in focus with a private report that the growth trajectory of iron ore continues as production for the current fiscal year 2024-25 (April-August) surged to 116 MMT during the April-August period, up from 108 MMT during the same timeframe last year, marking a healthy increase of 7.4 per cent. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red amid signs of escalating geopolitical tensions involving Israel, Lebanon, and Iran. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 84913.28, down by 658.57 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 84817.76 and 85359.65. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.46%, while Small cap index was down by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.04%, Basic Materials up by 0.80% and Consumer Durables up by 0.33%, while Realty down by 1.78%, Telecom down by 1.20%, Bankex down by 1.18%, Auto down by 1.15% and Energy down by 0.95% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JSW Steel up by 2.12%, Tata Steel up by 1.65%, Asian Paints up by 1.14%, Titan Company up by 1.12% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.43%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.95%, Axis Bank down by 1.93%, ICICI Bank down by 1.49%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.44% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to meet the growing energy demands of the country, Crisil Ratings has said that India’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) are expected to add 35-40 million tonnes (MT) of crude oil refining capacity by the end of the fiscal 2029-30. This will take the total installed capacity of the country for crude refining capacity to 295 MT by 2030.

This expansion will be driven by the projected growth in domestic oil consumption as India's existing refining capacity is already operating at optimal levels of 100-103 per cent utilisation. The expansion will require a capital expenditure of around Rs 1.9-2.2 lakh crore, with most of the capacity additions being brownfield expansions.

Further, it stated that these investments are expected to carry low project risk, and steady returns from the refining business will help strengthen the credit profiles of OMCs. Over the past decade, India has seen a capacity increase of 42 MT, reaching 257 MT in fiscal 2024. This was primarily in response to growing domestic demand, as exports remained steady at 60-65 MT per year during this period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25990.00, down by 188.95 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 25961.55 and 26134.70. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.24%, Tata Steel up by 1.65%, Hindalco up by 1.59%, Grasim Industries up by 1.25% and Asian Paints up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.03%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.62%, Axis Bank down by 2.09%, Coal India down by 2.00% and Reliance Industries down by 1.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; KOSPI dropped 31.94 points or 1.21% to 2,617.84, Nikkei 225 slipped 1934.1 points or 4.86% to 37,895.46, Taiwan Weighted lost 386.12 points or 1.69% to 22,436.67 and Jakarta Composite plunged 98.2 points or 1.28% to 7,598.72.

On the flip side, Hang Seng advanced 689.67 points or 3.23% to 21,321.97, Shanghai Composite strengthened 176.06 points or 5.39% to 3,263.59 and Straits Times rose 5.05 points or 0.14% to 3,578.41.