Sluggish trend continues on street

In line with Asian peers, Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below their psychological levels of 60,200 and 18000, respectively. Sentiments were under pressure with private report stated that hiring demand witnessed a dip of three per cent in October sequentially, mainly due to a decline in recruitment of professionals in purchase, logistics and supply chain after festive hiring hikes in September. For domestic investors, continuous foreign outflows was also a concern, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) again stood as net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,445.25 crore on Tuesday, as exchange data showed. In scrip specific development, Nykaa shares made a stellar listing on the stock exchanges today, despite the overall weak market momentum. Shares of Nykaa opened for trading at Rs 2,001 apiece, up 78% or Rs 876 per share from the issue price of Rs 1,125 per share. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as inflation returning to the fore as figures showed prices in the United States and China continue to surge.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60150.30, down by 283.15 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 59967.45 and 60295.26. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.32%, Energy up by 0.63%, Oil & Gas up by 0.45%, Auto up by 0.41% and Industrials was up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 2.04%, Realty down by 1.79%, Bankex down by 0.94%, Basic Materials down by 0.93% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.81% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.21%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.72%, Reliance Industries up by 0.84%, Sun Pharma up by 0.66% and Dr. Reddy's Lab was up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.95%, Indusind Bank down by 2.66%, ICICI Bank down by 1.51%, Asian Paints down by 1.43% and HDFC was down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to strengthen ease of doing business in the domestic mineral sector, the Union government has notified the amended minerals concession rules that will pave the way for releasing of additional minerals in the market by greater utilization of mining capacities of captive mines. It also provides for the manner in which 50 percent of mineral produced from the captive mines can be sold.

The mines ministry has notified the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Mineral) Concession (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021 to amend The Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Mineral) Concession Rules, 2016 (MCR, 2016). The new rules have been framed after extensive consultations with state governments, industry associations, miners, other stakeholders and general public. Various amendments were made in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Amendment) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) earlier this year.

The changes were aimed at increasing employment and investment in the mining sector, increasing revenues to states, raising the production and time-bound operationalisation of mines, among other objectives. The allowance for sale of prescribed quantity of mineral shall also motivate the lessees to enhance the production from the captive mines. Further, additional premium amount, royalty and other statutory payments in respect of the quantity sold will boost the revenue of the state governments. Provisions have also been added to allow disposal of overburden/ waste rock/ mineral below the threshold value, which is generated during the course of mining or beneficiation of the mineral.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17960.75, down by 83.50 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 17915.00 and 17973.45. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.34%, Britannia Industries up by 2.54%, UPL up by 2.16%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.71% and Reliance Industries was up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.00%, Hindalco down by 2.92%, Indusind Bank down by 2.70%, JSW Steel down by 2.41% and Coal India was down by 2.14% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite declined 27.82 points or 0.79% to 3,479.18, Jakarta Composite lost 5.90 points or 0.09% to 6,664.03, Hang Seng decreased 236.42 points or 0.95% to 24,576.71, KOSPI fell 31.29 points or 1.06% to 2,931.17, Straits Times trembled 15.03 points or 0.46% to 3,228.39 and Nikkei 225 was down by 178.68 points or 0.61% to 29,106.78.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was up by 18.29 points or 0.1% to 17,559.65.