Markets continue to trade marginally in red

The Indian markets continued to trade marginally in red with sustained selling pressure on some front line stocks in the late afternoon session. Investors turned wary as the fate of the GST Bill will be decided early this week. Other factors such as July auto sales data, corporate results and progress of monsoon also weighed on the domestic sentiment. However losses remain capped with the a survey of industry body Assocham stating that India Inc expects growth in sales and profitability to pick up by the year-end in sync with an uptick in the big macro picture.

On global front, European stocks opened higher despite growing concerns about China's economy after the country's official manufacturing gauge unexpectedly slumped in July.

Back home, in scrip specific development, Bajaj Finance shares are up 9 per cent at Rs 11,292. The stock made a fresh 52-week high of Rs 11,410.15.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28018.47, down by 33.39 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 27873.53 and 28284.85. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.24%, while Small cap index fall by 0.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.39%, TECK up by 1.28%, Metal up by 0.79%, Auto up by 0.68%, Consumer Durables up by 0.36% while, Capital Goods down by 2.02%, Bankex down by 1.11%, Realty down by 0.66%, FMCG down by 0.38%, PSU down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.75%, Wipro up by 2.65%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.41%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.78% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.45%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 3.86%, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.53%, Lupin down by 1.39%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.86% and HDFC Bank down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, manufacturing sector growth continued its uptrend and hit a four-month high in July, backed by stronger upturn in new business orders. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - rose to 51.8 in July from 51.7 in June. The upward movement in the headline index came from stronger contributions from four of its five components, the exception being suppliers’ delivery times.

According to the survey, greater demand from both the domestic and external markets, total new business rose at the fastest pace since March supporting the PMI. The expansion in order books was led by consumer goods producers. Growth of new export orders climbed to a six-month high, with increases seen in the consumer and capital goods categories. Further, Indian manufacturers stepped up production, with July’s upturn being the most pronounced since March.

As per the report, the July data highlighted ongoing pressure on the capacity of Indian manufacturers, as outstanding business rose for the second month in succession. Furthermore, the rate of backlog accumulation was the fastest in one-and-a-half years. Despite this, hiring trends remained relatively muted with, only 1% of surveyed companies took on additional workers in July, while almost all the remaining respondents signaled no change in payroll numbers.

On the price front, July saw input costs rise at the slowest pace in five months. Although charge inflation accelerated, the rate of increase was only slight and remained below its long-run average. Besides, supplier performance improved for the first time since February. Some respite came to firms with cost burdens rising at a modest and slower rate and the improving demand environment meant that businesses were able to raise their own charges in July.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8637.05, down by 1.45 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 8590.50 and 8711.30. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.11%, TCS up by 3.00%, Wipro up by 2.73%, Hindalco up by 2.28% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.18%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 3.88%, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.49%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.77%, BHEL down by 1.68% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.38% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 11.17 points or 0.68% to 1,664.43, KOSPI Index surged 13.42 points or 0.67% to 2,029.61, Nikkei 225 climbed 66.5 points or 0.4% to 16,635.77, Taiwan Weighted rosed 96.3 points or 1.07% to 9,080.71,Jakarta Composite jumped 148.91 points or 2.85% to 5,364.91, Hang Seng increased 237.77 points or 1.09% to 22,129.14. On other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 25.95 points or 0.87% to 2,953.39.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 surged 8.55 points or 0.13% to 6,732.98, France’s CAC increased 10.23 points or 0.23% to 4,450.04, Germany’s DAX climbed 74.72 points or 0.72% to 10,412.22.