Bourses continue to show sluggish trend in afternoon deals

Mirroring weak global cues, Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a sluggish trend in early afternoon session, with Senxex and Nifty trading below their psychological levels of 32300 and 10100, respectively. The broader indices too were trading in line with larger counterparts with losses in the range of 0.70-0.85%. The mood on the street remained cautious with the survey report stating that optimism level among India's chief financial officers during July-September touched a one and half year low amid concerns related to subdued demand and strain on corporate balance sheet. The market sentiment was further being weighed down by the weakness in rupee which dropped sharply by 37 paise amid a stronger dollar and increasing prospects of a December rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. Investors didn’t took note of the Finance minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government would soon announce measures to revive economic growth that has decelerated to the slowest pace in three years . In scrip specific development, Orchid Pharma rallied by around 20 percent after receiving the EIR from USFDA based on the successful inspection of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing facility located at Tamil Nadu, India.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as widely expected, but struck a hawkish tone by signaling another rate hike is likely this year. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32270.83, down by 129.68 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 32164.42 and 32462.61. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.70%, while Small cap index was down by 0.84%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Healthcare up by 2.14%, while Realty down by 2.01%, Metal down by 1.61%, Basic Materials down by 1.11%, FMCG down by 1.02% and Consumer Durables down by 0.99% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 4.77%, Lupin up by 3.67%, Cipla up by 3.40%, Sun Pharma up by 2.49% and HDFC up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.58%, ICICI Bank down by 2.13%, Coal India down by 1.97%, ITC down by 1.40% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that his ministry is working on strategic roadmap in close collaboration with the Finance Ministry and the government think-tank NITI Aayog in order to effectively resolve the problems faced by exporters to boost shipments and create job. The statement came after exporters flagged their concerns on liquidity crunch and the loss of competitiveness of India’s exports due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST). 

The minister further said that the strategic roadmap includes addressing blockage of working capital, speeding up refunds of taxes paid by exporters and making incentives for exporters more attractive.  He also noted that ensuring growth of exports is the priority of the commerce ministry. He added that the ministry is also holding consultations with exporters to review the foreign trade policy.

Besides, the country's exports posted a double-digit year-on-year growth of 10.29 percent after a gap of three months to $23.81 billion in August, mainly on account of sharp rise in export of petroleum products, chemicals, marine products and engineering goods.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10091.30, down by 49.85 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 10058.60 and 10158.90. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 4.81%, Lupin up by 3.71%, Cipla up by 3.28%, Sun Pharma up by 2.60% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.15%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.75%, Hindalco down by 2.70%, GAIL India down by 2.52% and ACC down by 2.28% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 29.64 points or 0.11% to 28,098.16, KOSPI Index dipped 5.7 points or 0.24% to 2,406.50 and Shanghai Composite shed 2.19 points or 0.07% to 3,363.80.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 increased 37.02 points or 0.18% to 20,347.48 and Taiwan Weighted rose 59.27 points or 0.56% to 10,578.44.