Sensex, Nifty remain under pressure

Indian equity benchmarks remained under pressure in late afternoon session, on the back of weak opening of European markets. Domestic sentiments got further hit after, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in current financial year downwards to 6.7 per cent -- marking a six-year low -- from its earlier forecast of 7.3 per cent. The agency expects FY20 to be the third consecutive year of subdued growth pushed by a slowdown in consumption demand, delayed and uneven progress of monsoon so far, decline in manufacturing growth, inability of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to resolve cases in a time-bound manner and rising global trade tension adversely impacting exports.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, even after German consumer confidence is set to remain unchanged in September. The survey data from market research group GfK showed that the forward-looking consumer sentiment index held steady at 9.7 in September. Asian markets were trading mixed.

Back home, electronics industry stocks were in watch, after secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT Ajay Prakash Sawhney said that the government is now working on policies to develop electronic components manufacturing base in the country and encourage exports,.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37302.95, down by 338.32 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 37249.19 and 37687.82. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.23%, while Small cap index was down by 0.84%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.11%, IT up by 0.77% and TECK up by 0.57%, while Metal down by 3.33%, Auto down by 2.12%, Power down by 1.63%, PSU down by 1.63% and Bankex down by 1.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 1.71%, Infosys up by 1.57%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.45%, HDFC up by 0.21% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 9.10%, Tata Steel down by 4.22%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 4.20%, Vedanta down by 4.03% and Tata Motors down by 3.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to develop electronic components manufacturing base in the country and encourage exports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney has said that the government is now working on policies to bring sub-assemblies, component manufacturing in India.

MeiTY Secretary highlighted further efforts being taken by the government, saying that with spurt in electronics manufacturing, the government is increasingly trying to bring supply chain in the country.

Besides, Sawhney said that the last five years witnessed a resurgence of manufacturing in India, starting with assembling of mobile phones and added that the new technologies are of utmost important for Digital India and delivery of e-governance services.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10996.45, down by 108.90 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 10987.65 and 11129.65. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 1.99%, Infosys up by 1.69%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.18% and Eicher Motors up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 9.46%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 4.56%, Vedanta down by 4.38%, Tata Steel down by 4.25% and Tata Motors down by 3.95% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 47.06 points or 0.45% to 10,434.29, Nikkei 225 surged 23.34 points or 0.11% to 20,479.42, KOSPI rose 16.49 points or 0.86% to 1,941.09 and Jakarta Composite soared 4.30 points or 0.07% to 6,282.47. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 2.57 points or 0.08% to 3,064.95, Shanghai Composite declined 7.08 points or 0.24% to 2,895.11 and Hang Seng decreased 24.57 points or 0.1% to 25,639.50.

European markets were trading mostly in red; CAC lost 32.00 points or 0.59% to 5,355.09 and DAX was down by 57.34 points or 0.49% to 11,672.68, while FTSE was up by 26.07 points or 0.37% to 7,115.65.