Bourses extend losses in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty falling above 280 and 65 points, respectively. Bajaj Auto, TCS and HDFC Bank were the prime losers among heavy-weights. Sentiment on the street weakened after Care Ratings’ report said that significant rise in prices of petrol and diesel in many Indian states, commodities such as edible oils, foodgrain, vegetables are seeing some inflation too. High petrol and diesel prices impact Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI), pushing up commodity prices, and that can be more damaging. The impact of fuel price hike is such that it percolates into prices of other goods by way of transport, logistics and freight costs. Sector wise, auto industry remained in focus, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that despite the impact of COVID-19 second wave, tractor sales volume is expected to grow in low-mid single digits of 3-6 percent in 2021-22, mainly on a higher base following the 27 per cent growth witnessed in FY21.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red on renewed concerns over the threat from coronavirus variants to the global economic recovery. European markets were trading higher, as investors sought bargains after one of the worst selloffs this year on global economic recovery worries.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52,287.64, down by 281.3 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 52228.01 and 52555.73. There were 10 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.06%, Metal up by 1.53%, Telecom up by 1.00%, Basic Materials up by 0.77% and Healthcare was up by 0.75%, while Energy down by 0.60%, Bankex down by 0.54%, Oil & Gas down by 0.41%, Capital Goods down by 0.37% and IT was down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.05%, Tata Steel up by 2.77%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.28%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.47% and Sun Pharma up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.75%, TCS down by 1.47%, HDFC Bank down by 1.02%, Axis Bank down by 0.85% and Reliance Industries down by 0.85% were the top losers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,659.55, down by 68.35 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 15632.75 and 15730.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.21%, Tata Steel up by 2.75%, Adani Ports up by 2.38%, Divi's Lab up by 2.24% and JSW Steel up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.85%, TCS down by 1.53%, HDFC Bank down by 1.13%, Wipro down by 1.04% and Axis Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 204.61 points or 1.15% to 17,661.48, Nikkei 225 slipped 177.61 points or 0.63% to 27,940.42, KOSPI fell 34.73 points or 1.07% to 3,217.95, Shanghai Composite declined 1.41 points or 0.04% to 3,524.09 and Jakarta Composite was down by 0.06 points or 0% to 6,039.84. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 18.13 points or 0.58% to 3,125.72 and Hang Seng was up by 191.41 points or 0.7% to 27,344.54.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 45.71 points or 0.65% to 7,076.37, France’s CAC increased 87.19 points or 1.36% to 6,483.92 and Germany’s DAX was up by 107.00 points or 0.69% to 15,527.64.