Bourses add losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets added losses in late afternoon session. Selling was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and Bankex sector stocks. Investors maintained cautious approach, as S&P Global cut its growth forecasts for some of Asia's top economies including India, the Philippines and Malaysia, offsetting upgrades to China and South Africa and much of Latin America. The estimates, which feed into S&P's closely-followed sovereign ratings, saw India's growth projection chopped to 9.5% from 11% due to its Covid-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, unemployment rate came down further to 8.72% for the week ended June 27 from 9.35% in the previous week, but still remained higher than 8.16% recorded at the beginning of the second Covid-19 wave in early April. The unemployment rate has fallen on a fallen labour participation rate (LPR). The LPR fell from 40.5% in the previous week to 39.6%.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after Hong Kong's merchandise exports grew at a softer pace in May. The data from the Census and Statistics Department showed that exports rose 24.0 percent year-on-year in May, after a 24.4 percent increase in April. A jump in industrial and financial stocks lifted European shares on Tuesday, as investors bought into sectors set to benefit from a steady economic recovery, while France's Rexel rose on lifting its 2021 sales forecast.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52,527.56, down by 208.03 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 52508.53 and 52816.42. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.66%, FMCG up by 0.53%, Utilities up by 0.12% and IT was up by 0.04%, while Metal down by 0.98%, Oil & Gas down by 0.97%, Bankex down by 0.93%, Telecom down by 0.75% and Auto was down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.87%, Nestle up by 0.79%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.76%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.61% and Reliance Industries up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.57%, ICICI Bank down by 1.55%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.27%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.16% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, urging to make use of technology, Minister for MSME and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has emphasized that all-round efforts are required for implementation of various initiatives undertaken as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Besides, the minister mentioned that in the journey of making Aaatmanirbhar Bharat, it is imperative that special focus is laid towards Agriculture, Food Processing industry, Leather and Tribal Industries.  He also mentioned that research, innovation and quality improvement can play a major role in industrial development.

Meanwhile, Minister for MSME, Nitin Gadkari launched the integrated services of Udyam Registration Portal with Common Service Centre (CSC) Portal to increase penetration of benefits of various Government schemes amongst MSMEs in far-flung areas.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,737.30, down by 77.40 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 15734.60 and 15835.90. There were 12 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stock remains unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.89%, Divi's Lab up by 0.77%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.76%, Nestle up by 0.73% and Reliance Industries up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.00%, ONGC down by 1.92%, Indian Oil down by 1.76%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.60% and ICICI Bank down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 274.20 points or 0.94% to 28,994.10, Nikkei 225 slipped 235.41 points or 0.81% to 28,812.61, Shanghai Composite declined 33.19 points or 0.92% to 3,573.18, Straits Times trembled 26.23 points or 0.84% to 3,100.65 and KOSPI was down by 15.21 points or 0.46% to 3,286.68. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 7.22 points or 0.04% to 17,598.19 and Jakarta Composite was up by 9.58 points or 0.16% to 5,949.05.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 19.88 points or 0.28% to 7,092.85, France’s CAC increased 21.75 points or 0.33% to 6,579.77 and Germany’s DAX was up by 93.78 points or 0.6% to 15,647.96.