Sluggish trend continues on Dalal Street

In line with Asian peers, the Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a sluggish trend in afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below their psychological levels of 38,400 and 11,350, respectively. Sentiments were under pressure as former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan stated that the negative GDP growth numbers should alarm everyone. Emphasising on the importance of government relief or support in the given scenario, he pointed out that it is ‘meagre’ so far. Meanwhile, a private report stated that India’s shrinking economy is not stopping foreign investors from investing money into the nation’s stocks betting on a recovery. Foreign buyers invested a net $6 billion into shares in Asia’s third-largest economy in August, the most since March last year. Stocks from power, utilities and capital goods counters were trading lower, while IT, FMCG and TECK counters were supporting the markets.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower with the intensified Sino -US tensions after reports that the US government is considering adding China's largest chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp or SMIC to a trade blacklist. Back on street, in scrip specific development, RattanIndia Power touched roof on selling solar power project to GIP and GE Shipping surged on contracting to sell gas carrier ‘Jag Vidhi’.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38337.24, down by 19.94 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 38060.74 and 38454.58. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.80%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.59%, FMCG up by 0.53%, TECK up by 0.46% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.42%, while Power down by 1.38%, Utilities down by 1.29%, Capital Goods down by 1.21%, Auto down by 1.01%, Oil & Gas was down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.06%, TCS up by 1.45%, Titan Company up by 1.07%, Nestle up by 1.03% and Asian Paints was up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.98%, NTPC down by 2.43%, ONGC down by 1.80%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.77% and Ultratech Cement was down by 1.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India's commitment to reform is being taken seriously by foreign investors, which is evident from the good inflow of Foreign Direct investment (FDI) even during the time of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Between April-July, the FDI into India stood at $20 billion.

Sitharaman said ‘India's commitment to reform is taken seriously by investors abroad and they take India to be a very desirable destination, otherwise we wouldn't be seeing good amount of FDI coming even during the pandemic time when India, as many of our critics would say, had the strictest lockdown.’

The minister further said the government’s next push Aatmanirbhar Bharat would help India build on its strengths and become self-reliant. She noted that Aatmanirbhar Bharat will lead to greater export competitiveness, better pricing and quality of exports, which show the Indian skill of making things to perfection. She pointed out that Aatmanirbhar Bharat is not for making India inward-looking, but to build on its strengths, one of the ways in which the country can become more competitive.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11321.25, down by 12.60 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 11251.70 and 11373.30. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.12%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.15%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.02%, TCS up by 1.38% and Dr. Reddys Lab was up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.88%, UPL down by 2.60%, GAIL India down by 2.50%, NTPC down by 2.32% and Cipla was down by 1.87% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 130.69 points or 0.53% to 24,564.76, Jakarta Composite lost 14.30 points or 0.27% to 5,225.55, Shanghai Composite declined 49.93 points or 1.49% to 3,305.44, Taiwan Weighted dropped 36.55 points or 0.29% to 12,601.40 and Nikkei 225 was down by 115.48 points or 0.5% to 23,089.95.

On the flip side; Straits Times advanced 0.79 points or 0.03% to 2,510.43 and KOSPI was up by 15.97 points or 0.67% to 2,384.22.