Bourses turn negative in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded near neutral line with negative bias in late afternoon session. Weakness in IT and TECK shares dragged key gauges lower, while buying in Oil & Gas, PSU and Utilities stocks helped markets to trade near neutral lines. India VIX traded in red. Bajaj Finance was the top gainer on Sensex, while Maruti Suzuki was down above two percent as the top loser on Sensex. Traders took note of report that regular engagement between India and the United States under the bilateral Trade Policy Forum mechanism will help remove barriers to trade, facilitate higher levels of investment and increase two-way trade in goods and services. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as U.S. Treasury yields continued to rise on expectations that the Federal Reserve might speed up policy tightening to cope with broadening inflationary risks. European markets were trading higher after a four-day losing streak, as higher commodity prices helped offset fears around Europe’s worsening COVID-19 situation and prospects of severe restrictions dampened the economic outlook.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58614.91, down by 49.42 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 58564.75 and 58968.12. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.31%, PSU up by 1.21%, Utilities up by 1.13%, Bankex up by 0.90% and Power was up by 0.62%, while IT down by 0.76%, TECK down by 0.63%, Auto down by 0.61%, FMCG down by 0.48% and Energy was down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 1.95%, NTPC up by 1.54%, ICICI Bank up by 1.49%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.45% and Power Grid up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.34%, Infosys down by 1.60%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.41%, Reliance Industries down by 1.16% and ITC down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining the importance of integrating the two economies across sectors to harness the untapped potential of the relationship, India and United States have reaffirmed their commitment to take economic relationship between the two countries to the next high level.

During the meeting the leaders pushed to work towards a more ambitious future for the bilateral trade and economic relationship and take it to the next level so that both economies could benefit from the inherent complementarities.

Further, India highlighted the importance of cooperation in health sector, and expressed interest in partnering with the U.S. and allies in developing a secure pharmaceutical manufacturing base for augmenting global supply chains.

India also highlighted the significance of restoration of GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) benefits as it would help industries from both sides in integrating their supply chain efficiently.  United States noted it for suitable consideration.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17496.15, down by 7.20 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 17485.05 and 17600.60. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.52%, Adani Ports up by 5.16%, Coal India up by 2.24%, BPCL up by 2.05% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.37%, Tata Consumer down by 2.00%, Infosys down by 1.83%, Eicher Motors down by 1.65% and Cipla down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 33.92 points or 0.14% to 24,685.50, Jakarta Composite soared 5.40 points or 0.08% to 6,683.28 Straits Times advanced 4.41 points or 0.14% to 3,231.94 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.61 points or 0.1% to 3,592.70. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 3.04 points or 0.1% to 2,994.29, Taiwan Weighted dropped 23.60 points or 0.13% to 17,642.52 and Nikkei 225 was down by 471.45 points or 1.58% to 29,302.66.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.13 points or 0.5% to 7,302.82, France’s CAC increased 35.02 points or 0.5% to 7,079.64 and Germany’s DAX was up by 12.33 points or 0.08% to 15,949.33.