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Benchmarks trade flat in morning deals
Apr-18-2024

Indian equity benchmarks erased their initial gains to trade flat in morning deals, as focus shifts to earnings and Israel's diplomatic offensive against Iran. Traders got anxious with provisional data from the NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 4,468.09 crore on April 16, 2024. Some concern also came as former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan expressed concerns regarding India's employment situation, despite the economy displaying signs of growth. He highlighted the necessity of tackling the scarcity of private sector jobs, noting the rising trend of individuals opting for government employment as a significant indicator. However, traders took support with industry body PHDCCI stating that India's economy is estimated to grow at 8-8.3 per cent in the current fiscal. It added that the country's GDP will grow at an average of 6.7 per cent over the next 23 years to become a $34.7 trillion economy by 2047, with a per capita income of $21,000. On the global front, Asian markets are trading higher despite ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following remarks by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72938.92, down by 4.76 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 72888.94 and 73295.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.25%, Telecom up by 1.12%, Utilities up by 0.95%, Basic Materials up by 0.79% and PSU up by 0.75%, while Healthcare down by 0.27%, FMCG down by 0.14% and Bankex down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 2.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.35%, Indusind Bank up by 0.76%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.72% and TCS up by 0.64%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.39%, Axis Bank down by 1.29%, Nestle down by 0.90%, Titan Company down by 0.76% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has said that road execution in India is likely to grow 5-8 per cent to 12,500-13,000 km in the current fiscal (FY25), after recording a robust expansion of 20 per cent in 2023-24. It stated that the pace of execution in this fiscal will be supported by a healthy pipeline of projects, increased capital outlay by the government and focus on completion of projects by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

It noted that road execution was impacted in the first half of FY24 on account of a prolonged monsoon in certain geographies, which affected productive days. According to it, the ministry's project award pipeline is healthy, at above 45,000 km as of March 2024. This is despite the awarding being significantly impacted in FY24 amid delay in approval from the Cabinet for the revised cost estimates of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase 1 (BMP). Consequently, the overall awards declined by 31 per cent to 8,551 km in FY24 from 12,375 km in FY23.

Further, it pointed out that a similar trend was seen in FY19 before the last general elections, when the project awarding had declined by over 67 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Besides, it said engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode continues to be the mainstay of this process, accounting for 70-75 per cent of the awards in FY24, followed by Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT)- Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM), accounting for 25-30 per cent share.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22175.00, up by 27.10 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 22153.80 and 22270.65. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation up by 2.73%, BPCL up by 2.57%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.14%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.97% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.51%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.54%, Axis Bank down by 1.18%, Nestle down by 1.05%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.94% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.69% were the top losers. 

All Asian markets are trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 104.46 points or 0.28% to 38,066.26, Taiwan Weighted added 94.72 points or 0.47% to 20,308.05, Hang Seng advanced 217.45 points or 1.32% to 16,469.29, Straits Times rose 38.94 points or 1.23% to 3,193.63, KOSPI increased 43.84 points or 1.7% to 2,628.02, Jakarta Composite gained 21.81 points or 0.31% to 7,152.65 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 16.95 points or 0.55% to 3,088.33.
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