Key gauges add some losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added some losses in morning deals, on the back of sustained selling activities by market-participants.Trading sentiments remain dampened as a private report projected a real gross value added (GVA) growth of 7 to 8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of current fiscal year versus 20.1 per cent growth in 1Q FY22. It said estimates suggest some moderation in economic activity index (EAI)-GVA growth in July, largely on account of weaker fiscal spending. Markets participants also took a note of CRISIL’s report that the target of 36 per cent rise in capex by 21 states - accounting for 90 per cent of aggregate state capital expenditure - for 2021-22 year-on-year as ambitious. Rather, it expected an 11-13 per cent rise in capex by these states in line with the previous financial year. Meanwhile, with the support of state governments, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said the Centre will increase the farmer database from the current 5.5 crore, created by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, to 8 crore by December 2021.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors watched for decisions from central banks in Europe and elsewhere about when they might start to wind down economic stimulus. Back home, Telecom stocks were in focus as industry body COAI said telecom regulator Trai's recommendation to waive right of way charges for the next five years will significantly reduce the overall cost of network rollout for companies. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58123.80, down by 173.11 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 58005.07 and 58459.70. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.53%, while Small cap index down by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.01%, FMCG up by 0.85%, Consumer Durables up by 0.43% while, Realty down by 2.10%, Power down by 1.26%, Utilities down by 1.15%, Bankex down by 1.11%, Oil & Gas down by 0.87% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.98%, Asian Paints up by 1.00%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.51%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.50% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.05%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.32%, Sun Pharma down by 1.23%, ICICI Bank down by 1.14% and SBI down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Credit ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has said that domestic air passenger traffic continued on the growth trajectory in August with volumes growing up to 31 percent to 66 lakh in August, compared to around 50.1 lakh in July 2021, helped by higher capacity deployment and a downward trend in the pandemic. The domestic passenger traffic in August 2020 was 51 lakh.

According to the report, domestic passenger traffic on a year-on-year basis, however, spiked around 131 per cent over August 2020 traffic of 2.83 million passengers. It also said despite the continued recovery in the previous month, there is continued stress on demand, driven largely by the second wave of the pandemic, limiting travel to only necessary travel. The air travel demand has continued to register improvement and the same grew by around 30-31 per cent at around 65-66 lakh in August, compared to around 50.1 lakh in July 2021, signifying a y-o-y growth of around 131 per cent.

Ratings agency further said the airlines' capacity deployment for August 2021 was around 99 per cent higher at around 57,500 departures, as against 28,834 departures in August 2020. On a sequential basis, the number of departures in August 2021 were higher by around 22 per cent, as Covid-19 infections demonstrated a downward trajectory.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17314.95, down by 62.85 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 17287.00 and 17425.15. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 2.05%, Tata Consumer Product up by 1.38%, Asian Paints up by 1.03%, Britannia Industries up by 0.76% and Eicher Motors up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.11%, Tata Motors down by 1.45%, Sun Pharma down by 1.35%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.33% and ICICI Bank down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted dropped 58.29 points or 0.33% to 17,437.01, KOSPI fell 22.62 points or 0.71% to 3,180.71, Straits Times trembled 4.24 points or 0.14% to 3,096.84 and Jakarta Composite lost 3.49 points or 0.06% to 6,123.45.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 27.79 points or 0.77% to 3,649.65, Hang Seng increased 158.55 points or 0.61% to 26,322.18 and Nikkei 225 surged 263.49 points or 0.89% to 29,923.38.