Bourses remain under pressure

Indian equity benchmarks remained under pressure in late afternoon session, amid weak European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader markets too continued their lackluster trade in late noon deals with the losses of over half a percent each. Heavy sell-off in Metal, Basic Materials and Utilities, kept the markets down, while Sun Pharma declined the most among all other major industry leaders on the BSE. Domestic sentiments continued to hit with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) latest report stating that 39% of the 681 districts in India have received less than normal rainfall in the week ended August 8. Traders paid no heed towards a private report stating that the production and manufacturing sector saw a 60% rise year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in recruitment in July.

On the sectoral front, pharma stocks were trading lower, even though the commerce ministry’s latest data showed that India’s pharmaceutical exports rose only 3% to $17.3 billion in last financial year (FY18) as compared to $16.7 billion in FY17, while in financial year 2016 exports were $16.9 billion, while auto stocks traded higher, despite domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales lost speed in the month of July 2018, with the decline of 2.71% on year on year basis. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data report, domestic PV sales decreased to 2,90,960 units in July 2018 from 2,99,066 units in July 2017.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as investors fret about the impact of trade wars and sanctions on Russia. Adding some worries, the European Central Bank said uncertainties related to global factors, notably the threat of protectionism remain prominent. Asian markets were trading in red, on concerns that tit-for-tat tariffs will destroy trade between the world's top two economies. Back home, in scrip specific development, Vikas WSP zoomed after the company received orders for Rs 219.36 crore Thermogel-3O guar gum and DP-100 guar gum for yoghurt, dairy, milk, health care applications.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37892.54, down by 131.83 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 37875.51 and 38051.45. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.76%, while Small cap index was down by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.37%, IT up by 0.33%, Auto up by 0.25%, FMCG up by 0.25% and TECK up by 0.22%, while Metal down by 2.17%, Basic Materials down by 1.60%, Utilities down by 1.39%, Healthcare down by 1.17% and Power down by 1.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.61%, ITC up by 1.41%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.14%, Yes Bank up by 1.11% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.57%, Vedanta down by 3.32%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.90%, Tata Motors down by 2.74% and Tata Steel down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales lost speed in the month of July 2018, with the decline of 2.71% on year on year basis. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data report, domestic PV sales decreased to 2,90,960 units in July 2018 from 2,99,066 units in July 2017.

The data report also found a dip in sales volumes of domestic cars. Car sales decreased marginally to 1,91,979 units in the reported month as compared to 1,92,845 in July 2017. However, motorcycle sales jumped by 9.67% to 11,50,995 units in July 2018 as against 10,49,478 units sold during corresponding period of the previous year.

Further, total two-wheeler sales were up by 8.17% in July 2018 to 18,17,077 units as against 16,79,876 units in the year-ago month, while commercial vehicles sales rose 29.65% to 76,497 units in July. The report further showed that vehicle sales across categories registered a rise of 7.97% to 22,44,875 units from 20,79,204 units in July 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11430.95, down by 39.75 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 11425.70 and 11478.75. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 5.23%, BPCL up by 2.67%, HPCL up by 1.94%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.32% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.76%, Vedanta down by 3.21%, GAIL India down by 3.00%, Tata Motors down by 2.93% and Grasim Industries down by 2.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times decreased 37.52 points or 1.14% to 3,289.22, Nikkei 225 fell 300.31 points or 1.35% to 22,298.08, Jakarta Composite lost 2.15 points or 0.04% to 6,063.11, Taiwan Weighted declined 44.39 points or 0.4% to 10,983.68, Hang Seng plunged 240.68 points or 0.85% to 28,366.62 and KOSPI was down by 20.92 points or 0.92% to 2,282.79. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.06 points or 0.04% to 2,795.44.

All European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 42.60 points or 0.55% to 7,699.17, France’s CAC dipped 59.30 points or 1.09% to 5,442.95 and Germany’s DAX was down by 177.01 points or 1.42% to 12,499.10.