Sensex, Nifty remain lower in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks remained lower in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red terrain. Mixed cues from other Asian markets impacted domestic sentiments. Traders got worried, amid 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.

Traders overlooked RBI data report that sales of 1,647 listed private manufacturing companies recorded ‘extraordinarily high’ growth of 75 per cent in the first quarter of FY'22 mainly due to a very low base in the pandemic-hit year-ago period.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, even after China's exports grew more than expected in August. The data from the General Administration of Customs revealed that exports advanced 25.6 percent year-on-year in August, bigger than the forecast of 17.1 percent and July's 19.3 percent increase. Imports increased 33.1 percent annually after rising 28.1 percent in July.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58184.62, down by 112.29 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 58005.07 and 58459.70. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.31%, while Small cap index was down by 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.64%, Consumer Durables up by 0.68%, FMCG up by 0.62%, Energy up by 0.44% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.03%, while Realty down by 1.65%, Utilities down by 1.07%, Power down by 1.05%, Bankex down by 0.90% and IT down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.58%, ITC up by 1.41%, Asian Paints up by 1.11%, Reliance Industries up by 0.88% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.89%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.49%, Infosys down by 1.15%, Sun Pharma down by 1.07% and SBI down by 0.99% were the top losers.

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. Tomar asked state governments to create a database for the state using the federated farmer database prepared by the central government and allow linkage to the state land record database.

Noting that agriculture has to be linked with digital technology, scientific research and knowledge, the minister emphasised that both the Centre and states must work together for agriculture to give a boost to the economy. He also said with the establishment of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), Mandis and start-ups will get loans easily.

According to him, a national farmer database is being created by taking data from existing schemes like PM-KISAN, soil health card and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The database will have connectivity to the state land records database. Meanwhile, stating that there is an increase in farm exports, Union Food and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said ‘India is emerging as a trusted export partner and there is further scope for improvement of agri-exports’. He emphasised that the infrastructure needs to be strengthened for storage and warehousing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17334.50, down by 43.30 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 17287.00 and 17425.15. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.38%, ITC up by 1.36%, Asian Paints up by 1.13%, Reliance Industries up by 0.76% and Tata Consumer Products up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.86%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.43%, Tata Motors down by 1.23%, Infosys down by 1.14% and Sun Pharma down by 1.13% 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.