Benchmarks extend losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty falling over 500 and 150 points, respectively. Sentiments on the street weakened after Reserve Bank of India’s data has showed that country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $353 million to $541.660 billion in the week ended September 11. During the reporting week, the fall in reserves was due to a decline in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. Sector wise, infrastructure sector remained in focus as many as 432 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of over Rs 4.29 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red with investors growing concerned about an uptick in coronavirus infections in Europe and the United States, as well as the lack of movement in Washington on a new stimulus. European markets were trading lower as allegations surrounding bank dealings and rising coronavirus infections weigh on market sentiment around the world.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38275.53, down by 570.29 points or 1.47% after trading in a range of 38236.74 and 38990.76. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 3.07%, while Small cap index was down by 2.95%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.29%, while Telecom down by 5.34%, Realty down by 4.62%, Metal down by 3.90%, Healthcare down by 3.56% and Auto was down by 3.56% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.49%, TCS up by 0.79%, Infosys up by 0.62%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.37% and HDFC Bank up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 6.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 5.54%, Nestle down by 5.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.77% and ICICI Bank down by 4.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 845232 new jobs in the month of July 2020 as against revised figure of 482352 in June 2020.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading - Commercial Establishments; establishment engaged in manufacture, marketing servicing, usage of computers; Electric-Mechanical-or General Engineering Products; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana.

According to the data report, 6493 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 207667 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 216629, 107750, 157802 and 148891 new payrolls, respectively in July 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11318.05, down by 186.90 points or 1.62% after trading in a range of 11303.75 and 11535.25. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.57%, TCS up by 0.86%, Infosys up by 0.65%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.46% and HDFC Bank up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 7.02%, Tata Motors down by 6.63%, Indusind Bank down by 6.50%, Zee Entertainment down by 6.31% and Bharti Airtel down by 5.13% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 504.72 points or 2.06% to 23,950.69, Taiwan Weighted dropped 80.50 points or 0.63% to 12,795.12, Jakarta Composite lost 59.86 points or 1.18% to 4,999.36, KOSPI fell 23.01 points or 0.95% to 2,389.39, Shanghai Composite declined 21.15 points or 0.63% to 3,316.94 and Straits Times was down by 12.70 points or 0.51% to 2,485.01.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 189.91 points or 3.16% to 5,817.14, France’s CAC decreased 132.10 points or 2.65% to 4,846.08 and Germany’s DAX was down by 392.32 points or 2.99% to 12,723.93.