Bourses continue lackluster trade in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading lower. Traders were cautious after private report stated that a majority of the Indian consumers are bullish about their financial situation in the next one year, but have raised concerns over rising cost of goods and services, which is affecting their purchasing decisions. Moreover, uncertainty around managing rising living costs is driving over 80 per cent in India to save more money.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed and European markets were trading higher ahead of keenly awaited U.S. inflation data that will offer a guide to how aggressively the Federal Reserve will raise rates. Back home, realty sector remain in focused, as Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that demand for housing is expected to stay firm, despite an increase in property prices as wells as the interest rates on loans. It said the housing demand in the top six cities is expected to grow by 5-10 per cent, and the increase will be visible despite a high base.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54051.60, down by 313.25 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 53519.30 and 54598.55. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was declined 0.64%, while Small cap index was down by 2.22%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.48% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.01%, while IT down by 1.70%, Industrials down by 1.37%, Capital Goods down by 1.36%, TECK down by 1.31% and FMCG was down by 1.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.58%, Indusind Bank up by 1.22%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.95%, HDFC up by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.79%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.12%, Infosys down by 2.02%, Wipro down by 1.89%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.78% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to scale up business, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged industries to identify a partner for making a joint venture in Australia and United Arab Emirates, following the signing of agreements signed by India with the two countries.

She further noted that the company or an enterprise should be transparent in its operations and ensure that all the details like the investors in the company be made available in public domain and these are the things that should be told to industry.

Underlining that the companies were earlier hesitant to speak to their counterparts in other countries, she said that industries should take risks with the government signing the pact and government is ready to extend its assistance.

On the pharma front, Sitharaman said that the country was once producing maximum 'active pharmaceuticals ingredient (API)' but that business got dwindled and now the country was depending on API from another country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16167.10, down by 72.95 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 15992.60 and 16318.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.72%, Axis Bank up by 1.42%, Cipla up by 1.36%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.05% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.74%, NTPC down by 2.19%, Wipro down by 2.08%, Infosys down by 1.93% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Taiwan Weighted dropped 55.45 points or 0.35% to 16,006.25, Straits Times trembled 7.34 points or 0.23% to 3,226.85, KOSPI fell 4.29 points or 0.17% to 2,592.27 and Jakarta Composite was down by 3.59 points or 0.05% to 6,816.20. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite gained 22.86 points or 0.75% to 3,058.70, Nikkei 225 surged 46.54 points or 0.18% to 26,213.64 and Hang Seng was up by 190.88 points or 0.97% to 19,824.57.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 70.72 points or 0.98% to 7,313.94, France’s CAC increased 87.79 points or 1.44% to 6,204.70 and Germany’s DAX was up by 76.52 points or 0.57% to 13,611.26.