Markets remain subdued in noon trade

Indian bourses continued their lackluster trade in noon session with Sensex and Nifty trading down by 119 and 39 points respectively. Stocks from telecom, energy and realty counters were trading lower, while power, utilities and healthcare counters were supporting the markets. Sentiments were under pressure as Fitch Ratings has kept India's sovereign rating unchanged at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook. It stated that the rating balances a still-strong medium-term growth outlook and external resilience from solid foreign-reserve buffers against high public debt, a weak financial sector and some lagging structural issues. Traders remained on sidelines despite Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India attracted ‘record’ foreign direct investments (FDI) in the last seven years. And this trend is expected to continue in the coming years as well on account of major structural reforms being undertaken by the government. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mixed after US president Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping turned down some of the heat in Sino-US tensions, though both sides held to their entrenched positions on a range of issues.

Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Tata Motors hits new 52 week high since Feb 2017 on demand recovery hope, while Spandana Sphoorty Financial hit 52-week low on delay in announcement of September 2021 quarter (Q2FY22) financial results, due to recent flux in management following resignation by managing director Padmaja Reddy and attrition in the information technology team.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60202.59, down by 119.78 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 60029.21 and 60426.61. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.42%, Utilities up by 1.15%, Healthcare up by 0.55%, Auto up by 0.53% and IT was up by 0.30%, while Telecom down by 1.09%, Energy down by 1.05%, Realty down by 0.84%, Oil & Gas down by 0.79% and Basic Materials was down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.18%, Asian Paints up by 2.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.75%, NTPC up by 1.45% and Bajaj Finance was up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.51%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.45%, Reliance Industries down by 1.13%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.02% and Tata Steel was down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) has expressed concern over an increase in the rates of cement and steel during the past year and said if the prices of higher raw materials do not start decreasing in the immediate future, there is a high probability that the prices of residential properties will go up by 10-15 percent to offset the increased cost of construction.

The industry body pointed out that the prices of construction raw materials have been increasing consistently since January 2020. It said the delays in construction caused by lockdowns, curfews, and the shortage of labor resulted in a direct increase in construction cost anywhere between 10 percent and 15 percent in the past 18 months.

The association suggested that the government can permit escalation of prices by allowing a clause in the buyer-seller agreement. It said the government may also consider either allowing an input tax credit for real estate projects and/or rationalization of GST on various construction raw materials from their current rates. It said if these steps are not taken immediately, property prices across all segments will shoot up, directly hampering the affordable housing and housing for all missions of the government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17959.90, down by 39.30 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 17906.60 and 18022.65. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 2.91%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.90%, Tata Motors up by 2.65%, Asian Paints up by 2.30% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.92%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.22%, Grasim Industries down by 1.78%, Divi's Lab down by 1.54%, BPCL down by 1.51% and Axis Bank was down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng decreased 136.42 points or 0.53% to 25,577.36, Nikkei 225 slipped 119.79 points or 0.4% to 29,688.33, Straits Times trembled 9.57 points or 0.3% to 3,229.23 and KOSPI was down by 32.46 points or 1.08% to 2,964.75.

On the other hand; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 70.91 points or 0.4% to 17,764.04, Jakarta Composite soared 9.33 points or 0.14% to 6,660.54 and Shanghai Composite was up by 11.13 points or 0.32% to 3,532.92.