Local equities continue to trade sluggish in late afternoon session

Local equities continued to show a sluggish trend in late afternoon session tracking weakness across other Asian markets. Losses in oil & gas, Energy and Telecom stocks pulled the indices lower. However, the broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index are traded in green. Traders overlooked that minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said, as per a recent CII-Ernst & Young report, India will be the next investment global hotspot. Besides, Goyal said India has all the right ingredients for the Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and can help MNCs become more competitive at global level. Sector wise, Real Estate sector remained in focus, as 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.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed despite a rally on Wall Street after virtual talks between President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping. European markets were trading mostly in green as some positive earnings reports helped overshadow worries that soaring natural gas prices were feeding into inflationary pressures.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60247.84, down by 74.53 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 60029.21 and 60426.61. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.42%, Utilities up by 1.14%, Auto up by 0.85%, FMCG up by 0.66% and Healthcare was up by 0.41%, while Energy down by 1.33%, Oil & Gas down by 1.02%, Telecom down by 1.00%, Realty down by 0.52% and Bankex was down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 3.23%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.92%, Asian Paints up by 2.53%, Power Grid up by 2.51% and NTPC up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.47%, Reliance Industries down by 1.43%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.25%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.23% and Titan Company down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing several key policy and business reforms taken by the government for improving the investment climate, the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said, as per a recent CII-Ernst & Young report, India will be the next investment global hotspot.

Besides, Goyal said India has all the right ingredients for the Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and can help MNCs become more competitive at global level. Encouraging the Indian MNCs to take ‘Brand India’ to the world and be ambassadors of India’s culture, quality and values, Goyal said MNCs have been an integral part of India’s growth story and their contribution is immense.

Further, Goyal stressed on promoting partnership between the Government and Industry. He said “This partnership is important more in today’s time because it gives us ideas, it gives us thoughts, it gives us an opportunity to understand where you come from, what needs to be done and, I think, this partnership needs to be strengthened further as we go along.”

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17969.30, down by 29.90 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 17906.60 and 18022.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life up by 3.40%, ITC up by 3.25%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.96%, Tata Motors up by 2.61% and Asian Paints up by 2.58%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.97%, Indian Oil down by 1.79%, Reliance Industries down by 1.70%, Shree Cement down by 1.65% and Cipla down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 slipped 119.79 points or 0.4% to 29,688.33, Hang Seng decreased 63.70 points or 0.25% to 25,650.08, KOSPI fell 34.79 points or 1.16% to 2,962.42 and Straits Times was down by 10.05 points or 0.31% to 3,228.75. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 15.58 points or 0.44% to 3,537.37, Jakarta Composite soared 24.59 points or 0.37% to 6,675.80 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 70.91 points or 0.4% to 17,764.04.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 3.84 points or 0.05% to 7,156.44 and Germany’s DAX was up by 25.65 points or 0.16% to 16,273.51. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 16.21 points or 0.22% to 7,310.76.