Bourses trade near neutral lines with negative bias in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed their losses in late afternoon session and traded near neutral lines with negative bias in late afternoon session. Weakness in select Consumer Durables and Telecom shares dragged key gauges lower, while buying in Oil & Gas and Energy stocks helped markets to trade near neutral lines. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were too trading with marginal losses. Sentiments got some support as India and the European Union (EU) resumed negotiations, after a gap of over eight years, for a comprehensive free trade agreement, a move aimed at strengthening economic ties between the two regions. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green and European markets were trading higher after China announced changes to testing and quarantine rules in first step towards easing border controls.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 53,121.31, down by 39.97 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 52771.53 and 53133.82. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.03%, while Small cap index was down by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.07%, Energy up by 1.90%, Metal up by 1.14%, Auto up by 0.85% and PSU was up by 0.56%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.60%, Telecom down by 0.88%, Bankex down by 0.61%, IT down by 0.40%, TECK down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.57%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.07%, Tata Steel up by 1.03%, Reliance Industries up by 0.96% and ITC up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.69%, Asian Paints down by 3.27%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.15%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.29% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, terming MSMEs as the backbone of the Indian economy and global sustainable developments, Union Minister for MSME Narayan Rane has said that the MSME Ministry is committed to achieve the goals of holistic development and self-reliance of MSMEs, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Minister further noted that while recovering from the adverse conditions arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent Ukraine war, the MSME sector not only digitized its business operations but also cut downed their input cost and started a new tradition by domestically producing essential products curtailing import and also started export of those products with the support of various schemes of the Government.

Besides, he said that during this time, MSMEs focused their online services to reach the wider market, consequently they have been able to overcome the adversity. He also underlined that MSMEs are contributing in providing livelihood opportunities to local communities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,830.65, down by 1.40 points or 0.008% after trading in a range of 15710.15 and 15837.80. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.65%, Hindalco up by 2.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.69%, Coal India up by 1.51% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.65%, Asian Paints down by 3.32%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.11%, Divi's Lab down by 1.59% and Adani Ports down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 189.45 points or 0.85% to 22,418.97, Nikkei 225 surged 178.20 points or 0.66% to 27,049.47, Shanghai Composite gained 30.02 points or 0.89% to 3,409.21, KOSPI rose 20.17 points or 0.84% to 2,422.09 and Straits Times was up by 1.43 points or 0.05% to 3,138.97. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 19.60 points or 0.28% to 6,996.46 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 108.09 points or 0.7% to 15,439.92.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 69.55 points or 0.96% to 7,327.87, France’s CAC increased 71.79 points or 1.19% to 6,119.10 and Germany’s DAX was up by 113.26 points or 0.86% to 13,299.33.