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Indian markets remain lackluster in early afternoon
Jan-03-2025

Indian equity benchmarks remained lackluster during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty falling around half a percent, on the back of heavy selling at IT and TECK counters, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained downbeat, amid reports that more than half of the respondents surveyed in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Systemic Risk Survey (SRS) do not expect a revival in the private capital expenditure cycle in the coming year, contrary to the central bank’s own assessment that economic activity is likely to pick up in the second half of this year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even as Singapore's retail sales decreased for the first time in five months in November. The preliminary data from the Department of Statistics showed that retail sales dropped 0.7 percent annually in November, reversing a 2.4 percent increase in October. Sales excluding motor vehicles declined 1.4 percent versus a 0.5 percent increase in the previous month. 

Back home, oil and gas sector stocks were in watch, as credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has maintained a neutral outlook on the oil and gas sector for FY26. The rating agency noted that the credit profile of downstream companies is expected to remain stable during the year, driven by a healthy demand for petroleum products and healthy marketing margins that would offset compressed gross refining margins (GRMs), yielding healthy overall EBITDA. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79467.97, down by 475.74 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 79274.77 and 80072.99. 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 by 0.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.67%, Energy up by 1.44%, Metal up by 0.95%, PSU up by 0.83% and Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, while IT down by 1.30%, TECK down by 1.12%, Bankex down by 0.70%, Healthcare down by 0.54% and Capital Goods down by 0.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.01%, Indusind Bank up by 2.29%, Titan up by 2.02%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.44% and Reliance Industries up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 2.05%, HDFC Bank down by 1.95%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.88%, TCS down by 1.85% and ICICI Bank down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that employment in the country has increased by 36 per cent to 64.33 crore in 2023-24 from 47.15 crore in 2014-15, which shows improvement in job creation during NDA period. He stated that employment under UPA grew by just about 7 per cent between 2004 to 2014. He noted that under the UPA government between 2004 to 2014 just 2.9 crore additional jobs were created whereas under the Modi government between 2014-24, 17.19 crore jobs were added.

The minister stated that In the last one year (2023-24) alone, the Modi government has created around 4.6 crore jobs in the country, the minister stated. The data assumes significance in the backdrop of pressure on the government for job creation in the country. About the agriculture sector, he said that employment declined by 16 per cent between 2004 to 2014 under UPA tenure whereas it has grown by 19 per cent between 2014 -2023 under Modi tenure. Similarly, employment in the manufacturing sector grew by just 6 per cent between 2004 to 2014 under UPA tenure while it increased by 15 per cent between 2014-2023 under Modi tenure.

He further informed that employment in the services sector grew by 25 per cent between 2004 to 2014 under UPA tenure while it increased by 36 per cent between 2014 -2023 under Modi tenure. He also said that the unemployment Rate (UR) dropped from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24 while the employment rate (WPR) grew from 46.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 58.2 per cent in 2023-24. Similarly, he informed that the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) grew from 49.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 60.1 per cent in 2023-24. About the growth in youth joining the formal job market, he informed that in the last seven years (between Sept 2017- Sept 2024) over 4.7 crore youth (Age 18-28 years) have joined Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) fold.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24071.75, down by 116.90 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 24000.25 and 24196.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.63%, Tata Motors up by 3.71%, Indusind Bank up by 2.41%, Titan up by 2.04% and SBI Life Insurance up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.76%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.40%, HDFC Bank down by 2.08%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.85% and Cipla down by 1.82% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 71.51 points or 0.36% to 19,694.83, Jakarta Composite gained 4.07 points or 0.06% to 7,167.28, KOSPI increased 42.98 points or 1.76% to 2,441.92 and Taiwan Weighted added 76.24 points or 0.33% to 22,908.30, while Shanghai Composite weakened 36.15 points or 1.11% to 3,226.41 and Straits Times fell 5.6 points or 0.15% to 3,795.21.
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