Markets trim gains in late afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session, on the back of weak cues from European markets. Investors got cautious after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised its sector outlook on non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to negative from stable. Besides, the agency maintained its negative outlook on large ticket housing finance companies (HFCs). However, markets managed to keep their heads in green terrain, as Environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar termed the present economic slowdown as a ‘cyclical process’. He said the government remains optimistic about near-doubling the economy size to $5 trillion by 2024.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, despite the Bank of France retained its growth forecast for the third quarter, amid an improvement in confidence in the manufacturing sector. The bank continues to see a 0.3 percent expansion in the three months to September, same as its initial estimate. The French economy expanded 0.3 percent sequentially in the second quarter. However, Asian markets were trading in green.

Back home, auto industry stocks were in watch, as the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed that India's domestic passenger vehicle sales fell for the tenth straight month in August, declining 31.57 percent to 1,96,524 units from 2,87,198 units in the year-ago period.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37116.79, up by 135.02 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 36784.47 and 37244.08. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.69%, while Small cap index was up by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.55%, Telecom up by 1.30%, Industrials up by 1.11%, Bankex up by 0.90% and Basic Materials up by 0.86%, while IT down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.55% and Energy down by 0.12% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.19%, Yes Bank up by 1.99%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.72%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.62% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.42%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.77%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.43%, Infosys down by 1.23%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.79% and TCS down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid weak demand, Indian automobile industry sales fell for 10th straight month in August. As per the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data report, domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales dropped 31.57 percent to 1,96,524 units in August from 2,87,198 units in the year-ago period.

All vehicle categories remained under pressure during the reported month, as SIAM data report showed that domestic car sales were down 41.09 percent to 1,15,957 units as against 1,96,847 units in August 2018. Sales of commercial vehicles were down 38.71 percent to 51,897 units in August.

Further, motorcycle sales slipped 22.33 percent to 9,37,486 units in August as against 12,07,005 units a year earlier. Total two-wheeler sales in August declined 22.24 percent to 15,14,196 units compared to 19,47,304 units in the year-ago month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10989.90, up by 43.70 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 10889.80 and 11028.85. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.39%, UPL up by 2.90%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.33%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.10% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.55%, HCL Tech. down by 1.49%, Infosys down by 1.46%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.98% and Eicher Motors down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 118.85 points or 0.56% to 21,318.42, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 20.50 points or 0.19% to 10,801.14, Shanghai Composite gained 18.76 points or 0.63% to 3,018.36, Jakarta Composite soared 19.20 points or 0.3% to 6,328.15, KOSPI rose 10.42 points or 0.52% to 2,019.55 and Straits Times was up by 3.96 points or 0.13% to 3,148.44. On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 9.39 points or 0.04% to 26,681.37. 

European markets were trading mostly in red; FTSE fell 7.87 points or 0.11% to 7,274.47 and CAC lost 4.84 points or 0.09% to 5,599.15, while DAX was up by 24.72 points or 0.20% to 12,216.45.