Sensex, Nifty remain under grip of bears

Indian equity benchmarks remained under a grip of bears in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading over 2.50% lower each, tracking negative Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained pessimistic, amid reports that with Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran citing the IMF forecast that the Indian economy would cross USD 5 trillion by 2026-27, leader P Chidambaram said the goal of a USD 5 trillion GDP appears to be a case of 'shifting goalposts' as the original target year was 2023-24.

Besides, at the G33 Ministerial Meeting in Geneva, a coalition of developing countries of which India is a key member, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal expressed his concerns over the stalemate in reaching a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding and special safeguard mechanism for food security.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading in red, after Japan large manufacturers' confidence weakened further in the second quarter. The business outlook survey results from the Ministry of Finance showed that the business survey index for big manufacturers dropped to -9.9 in the June quarter from -7.6 in the first quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52872.37, down by 1431.07 points or 2.64% after trading in a range of 52734.98 and 53207.54. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 2.15%, while Small cap index was down by 2.32%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex down by 3.33%, IT down by 3.16%, Metal down by 2.88%, TECK down by 2.87% and Realty down by 2.75%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.57%, Nestle up by 0.50% and Power Grid up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 5.95%, Bajaj Finance down by 5.12%, Indusind Bank down by 4.90%, ICICI Bank down by 4.76% and Tech Mahindra down by 3.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery has said that India's macroeconomic position relative to emerging economies appears good, and the coming decade appears promising for sustained economic growth for the country.

Bery further said any appraisal of potential, performance and policies should also take into account the global headwinds, challenges and India's performance relative to other economies. He also highlighted how the global financial crisis impacted global economic growth, with India also bearing the brunt with respect to economic growth and private sector investment.

He said through cooperative and competitive federalism, NITI Aayog is engaging with states and suggesting various measures which can help in long-term sustained economic growth at the state level.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15789.65, down by 412.15 points or 2.54% after trading in a range of 15749.90 and 15886.15. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.64%, Nestle up by 0.58% and Power Grid up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 6.03%, Hindalco down by 5.22%, Bajaj Finance down by 5.13%, Indusind Bank down by 4.99% and ICICI Bank down by 4.79% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 856.67 points or 3.08% to 26,967.62, Jakarta Composite lost 141.25 points or 1.99% to 6,945.40, Shanghai Composite declined 36.32 points or 1.11% to 3,248.51, Straits Times trembled 19.61 points or 0.62% to 3,162.12, Hang Seng decreased 612.23 points or 2.81% to 21,193.95, KOSPI fell 87.13 points or 3.36% to 2,508.74 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 349.78 points or 2.13% to 16,110.34.