Daily Market Commentary - Feb 17, 2023 - Bonanza Portfolio

Mr. Jitendra Upadhyay, Sr. Equity Research Analyst, BONANZA PORTFOLIO LTD

Indian indices opened negative today with Nifty below 18,000. At the time of closing, Sensex was down 316.94 points or 0.52% at 61,002.57, and the Nifty was down 91.60 points or 0.51% at 17,944.20.

During the day, India's current account deficit stands below $100 billion for FY23 after two powerful factors moved in tandem in January. India's goods exports contracted again, this time by 6.6% YoY to $32.9 billion, while imports also fell. Merchandise imports in January were down 3.6% to $50.7 billion. This resulted in a trade deficit of $17.8 billion. Promoters of major Indian companies raised their share pledges in the Q3, as equity markets experienced volatility due to global policy tightening in response to rising inflation. The total value of shares pledged by promoters amounted to Rs 2.2 lakh crore, which represented ~0.83% of the BSE 500 Index's total market capitalisation. According to Moody's, the cement production in India is estimated to grow by around 6 - 8% over FY23-FY24, following a 21% jump for FY22. FIIs, who were net sellers of Indian shares since the start of 2023 has bought a net $876 million of Indian stocks over six sessions amid expectations of continuing rate hikes by global central banks due to inflation.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, offering more evidence of the economy's resilience despite tighter monetary policy. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 194,000 for the week ended Feb 11. On the sectoral front, except capital goods, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

Nifty 50 top gainers are Larsen & Toubro, Ultra Tech Cements, BPCL, Hero Motors Corp., and Asian Paints while Adani Enterprises, Nestle India, IndusInd bank, SBI Life, and HDFC Bank were among the top losers.

Source : Equity Bulls

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