Bourses continue to trade sluggish in late afternoon session

Local equity markets continued to trade sluggish in late afternoon session amid weakness across Asian markets. There were no gainers on the sectoral indices on the BSE. Traders were cautious after private report stated that Oil prices rose $2 per barrel on June 21, 2022 on high summer fuel demand while supplies remain tight because of sanctions on Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower despite a jump in U.S. equities overnight. Inflation and interest-rate concerns took center stage ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. European markets were trading lower amid lingering concerns that higher interest rates could lead to a recession.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51947.21, down by 584.86 points or 1.11% after trading in a range of 51739.98 and 52272.85. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.42%, while Small cap index was down by 0.99%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 4.33%, Basic Materials down by 2.60%, Realty down by 1.96%, Energy down by 1.92%, Power down by 1.88%, while there were no gainers on the sectoral indices on the BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 0.71% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.14%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.35%, Wipro down by 3.00%, Indusind Bank down by 2.75%, Reliance Industries down by 2.65% and Titan Company down by 2.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a relief to banking and non-banking financial sector, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given three months extension to banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to comply with certain provisions related to issuing credit and debit cards, including activation of cards without customers' consent. Considering various representations received from the industry stakeholders, RBI has decided to extend the timeline for implementation of the following provisions of the Master Direction to October 01, 2022.

One of the key provisions of the Master Direction relates to the activation of credit card. As per the Master Direction, card issuers must seek One Time Password (OTP) based consent from the cardholder for activating a credit card, if the same has not been activated by the customer for more than 30 days from the date of issuance.

As per the notification, other provisions are related to credit card limits and levies. Card-issuers shall ensure that the credit limit as sanctioned and advised to the cardholder is not breached at any point in time without seeking explicit consent from the cardholder.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15442.10, down by 196.70 points or 1.26% after trading in a range of 15385.95 and 15565.40. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.64%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.11%, TCS up by 0.66%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.13% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.04%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 6.12%, UPL down by 5.81%, JSW Steel down by 4.55%, Tata Steel down by 4.46% and ONGC down by 3.70% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng decreased 551.25 points or 2.56% to 21,008.34, Taiwan Weighted dropped 380.89 points or 2.42% to 15,347.75, Nikkei 225 slipped 96.76 points or 0.37% to 26,149.55, KOSPI fell 66.12 points or 2.74% to 2,342.81, Jakarta Composite lost 59.76 points or 0.85% to 6,984.31, Shanghai Composite declined 39.52 points or 1.2% to 3,267.20 and Straits Times was down by 19.23 points or 0.62% to 3,098.25.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 96.63 points or 1.35% to 7,055.42, France’s CAC decreased 114.19 points or 1.91% to 5,850.47 and Germany’s DAX was down by 315.23 points or 2.37% to 12,977.17.