Indian bourses continue to trade under pressure

Indian bourses remained under heavy selling pressure in afternoon session, amid uncertainty over Kashmir Issue and US-China trade related concerns. Disappointing quarterly earnings by some blue- chip companies along with a sustained weakness in the Indian currency, too weighed on the sentiments. Investors failed to draw any sense of relief with a monthly survey showed the country’s services sector activity in July returned to growth territory driven by new business orders that rose at fastest pace since October 2016, following which job creation picked up. The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index rose to 53.8 in July from 49.6 in June, pointed to the quickest increase in output in one year. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after China allowed its yuan to sink to its lowest level this year following President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36633.31, down by 484.91 points or 1.31% after trading in a range of 36416.79 and 36844.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.28%, while Small cap index was down by 2.02%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.31% and TECK was up by 0.14%, while Utilities down by 2.67%, Power down by 2.53%, Energy down by 2.51%, Realty down by 2.48% and PSU was down by 2.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.65%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.02%, HDFC up by 0.73%, Sun Pharma up by 0.39% and Hero MotoCorp was up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.49%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 5.22%, Tata Motors down by 4.56%, Power Grid down by 4.32% and Tata Steel was down by 3.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a view to further ease flow of funds to the housing sector, the National Housing Bank (NHB) is infusing an additional Rs 10,000 crore into Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). This facility will be over and above the existing finance schemes of the housing sector regulator NHB.

Finance ministry has stated that following to the budgetary announcements, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled a slew of measures for banks to avail additional liquidity of Rs 1.34 lakh crore. It noted that this would ease the liquidity stress in the NBFC sector and increase the access of these NBFCs to bank finance, and, in turn, enable them to continue to play their role in meeting the financing requirement of the productive sector of economy.

The ministry further said that the government has received a proposal from the RBI on draft modalities of the guarantee to operationalise the budget announcement. It said the Centre has accorded its approval to the modalities that would be set in motion by the RBI. It added that the Department of Financial Services would put in place an oversight mechanism for the scheme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10857.90, down by 139.45 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 10782.60 and 10895.80. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 1.80%, Coal India up by 1.67%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.01%, HDFC up by 0.84% and Cipla was up by 0.47%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.27%, Tata Motors down by 4.82%, Power Grid down by 4.32%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.59% and Hindalco Industries was down by 3.33% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 752.23 points or 2.79% to 26,166.35, Taiwan Weighted dropped 125.63 points or 1.19% to 10,423.41, Shanghai Composite declined 37.14 points or 1.3% to 2,830.70, Straits Times trembled 61.02 points or 1.87% to 3,200.09, KOSPI fell 51.15 points or 2.56% to 1,946.98, Jakarta Composite lost 106.86 points or 1.69% to 6,233.32 and Nikkei 225 slipped 366.87 points or 1.74% to 20,720.29.