Markets near day’s low points

Indian equity indices extended their losses in late afternoon session to reach near their intraday low points, tracking weak European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader indices were too lingering under pressure, while Yes Bank performed the worst on the BSE. The street remained worried, amid a report that even as more and more crippled banks come out of the dud asset tunnel, the heightening growth slowdown and the lingering crisis at non-banking lenders pose fresh challenges to their asset quality.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Eurozone economic confidence weakened to the lowest since March 2016. The survey results from European Commission showed that the economic confidence index fell to 102.7 in July from 103.3 in June. This was the lowest since March 2016, when the reading was 102.3. However, Asian market were trading in green.

Back home, airlines stocks were in watch, as Preliminary traffic figures for the month of June released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed that international air passenger demand continued to grow at a moderate pace, driven by widespread availability of affordable air fares and resilient growth in regional economies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37444.15, down by 242.22 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 37410.50 and 37950.21. 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 1.34%, while Small cap index was down by 1.78%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.91%, TECK up by 0.63% and IT up by 0.59%, while PSU down by 1.94%, Energy down by 1.91%, Bankex down by 1.64%, Metal down by 1.59% and Auto down by 1.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.31%, TCS up by 2.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.82%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.73% and HCL Tech up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.07%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.98%, Indusind Bank down by 4.56%, SBI down by 4.26% and Sun Pharma down by 2.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to protect poor investors, the Parliament has passed the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019. The bill seeks to put in place a mechanism by which poor depositors will get back their hard earned money.

The Rajya Sabha passed with voice vote the bill which would save gullible investors from ponzi schemes. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on July 24, 2019.

The Bill states that the first claim on the recovered money will be of depositors and the proposed legislation also has some exclusion including money collected by real estate firms and from friends and relatives.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11103.00, down by 86.20 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 11096.45 and 11267.45. There were 11 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.44%, TCS up by 2.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.78%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.73% and HCL Tech. up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.33%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 5.80%, Hero MotoCorp down by 5.30%, Indusind Bank down by 4.71% and SBI down by 4.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 60.83 points or 0.22% to 28,167.24, Nikkei 225 surged 92.51 points or 0.43% to 21,709.31, Straits Times advanced 4.41 points or 0.13% to 3,350.80, Jakarta Composite soared 54.31 points or 0.86% to 6,353.35, KOSPI rose 9.20 points or 0.45% to 2,038.68 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.47 points or 0.36% to 2,951.48. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was down by 54.83 points or 0.5% to 10,830.90.

European markets were trading mostly in red; DAX lost 154.31 points or 1.24% to 12,263.16 and CAC was down by 47.67 points or 0.85% to 5,553.42, while FTSE was up by 2.63 points or 0.03% to 7,689.24.