Weakness persists in Indian markets in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade weak in late afternoon session, as investors stayed cautious ahead of July Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data due to be released today. Weak global cues also dampened the domestic sentiment. European markets fell on Friday, weighed down by a drop in the shares of healthcare companies, while the latest nuclear test conducted by North Korea also rattled markets. Back home, Sentiments remained down-beat with the report that the country-wide monsoon deficit stood at 4% with northeastern and eastern states reporting 13% less rains from June 1 to September 7, 2016. Most of the sectoral indices were trading in negative territory with FMCG as the top losing indices down by over one an half percent. Selling was broad based with both mid cap and small cap indices were trading down by over 0.27 percent and 0.06 percent respectively. In scrip specific development, Yes Bank fell, extending its losses from Thursday, after it deferred an up to $1 billion share sale to institutions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28903.18, down by 142.10 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 28755.08 and 29062.90. There were 10 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.27%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.54%, IT up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.57% and PSU up by 0.39%, while FMCG down by 1.46%, Metal down by 1.26%, Auto down by 1.17%, Consumer Durables down by 0.78% and Capital Goods down by 0.62% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 4.16%, GAIL India up by 1.98%, Wipro up by 1.73%, TCS up by 1.72% and Reliance Industries up by 1.63%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.41%, Tata Motors down by 1.80%, Axis Bank down by 1.76%, HDFC down by 1.70% and Tata Steel down by 1.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is taking growth of technical textiles on priority basis and expecting the industry to grow at a rate of 20 per cent with the market size of the sector reach Rs 1.58-lakh crore in current fiscal. The government is providing financial support for growth of the industry and has announced 15 per cent capital subsidy for investments in technical textiles under the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme.

Technical textiles are an important part of the textile industry and its potential is still largely untapped in India.  Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta has said that India has been growing at a steady pace in the sector with perceptible signs of expansion being observed in a few specialised segments. She further stated that the sector spends around 10-11 per cent on R&D at present and hopes to double the same in coming years.

The global technical textiles market is expected to reach $ 193.16 billion by 2022. Growth of key end-use industries such as agriculture, construction, packaging and automotive in BRICS nations is expected to remain a key driving factor for global technical textiles market. Technical textiles offers several advantages in their functional aspects for improving health and safety, cost effectiveness, and durability and strength of textile material and growing industrialisation, increasing access to medical care and huge infrastructure spending is expected to drive growth in the sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8905.30, down by 47.20 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 8861.80 and 8939.15. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.26%, GAIL India up by 1.92%, Wipro up by 1.70%, TCS up by 1.61% and HCL Tech. up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.90%, Hindalco down by 2.84%, ITC down by 2.34%, Yes Bank down by 2.32% and ACC down by 2.08% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 98.01 points or 1.06% to 9,164.88, Jakarta Composite declined 85.14 points or 1.59% to 5,285.94, KOSPI Index dropped 25.86 points or 1.25% to 2,037.87, Shanghai Composite was down by 17.1 points or 0.55% to 3,078.86 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 4.88 points or 0.29% to 1,686.50. On other hand, Nikkei 225 increased 6.99 points or 0.04% to 16,965.76 and Hang Seng increased 180.36 points or 0.75% to 24,099.70.

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 19.53 points or 0.18% to 10,655.76, France’s CAC declined 8.75 points or 0.19% to 4,533.45 and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 6.25 points or 0.09% to 6,852.45.