Bourses trim losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in late afternoon session but continued to trade below neutral line. Buying in IT and TECK stocks helped the markets to cut some losses. Traders were cautious after India’s services sector lost momentum in July as demand was curtailed by competitive pressures, elevated inflation and unfavourable weather. However, downside remain capped after Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest data has showed that the country's unemployment rate fell from 7.80 per cent in June to 6.80 per cent in July, the lowest level in the last six months, amid rising agriculture activities during monsoon. On the global front, Asian markets and European markets were trading mostly in green even as rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, and concerns that the economy is slowing weighed on the market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58055.74, down by 80.62 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 57788.78 and 58307.33. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.97% and TECK was up by 0.81%, while Telecom down by 1.69%, Auto down by 1.53%, Capital Goods down by 1.24%, Industrials down by 1.09% and Healthcare was down by 1.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.44%, TCS up by 1.24%, Infosys up by 1.06%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.54% and Asian Paints up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.02%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.17%, Sun Pharma down by 1.99%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.38% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s service sector activity growth eased in the month of July as weaker sales growth and inflationary pressures restricted the latest upturn in business activity. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index declined to 55.5 in July from 59.2 in June. Further, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- fell to 56.6 in July from 58.2 in June.

There was a negligible increase in service sector employment across India. The rate of job creation was fractional and broadly similar to June. The vast majority of firms left payroll numbers unchanged amid a lack of need to raise workforces. Indeed, capacity pressures remained only mild, with the average level of outstanding business rising at a slight pace that was the weakest in three months.

On the inflation front, services companies witnessed a further increase in their average expenses during July, with food, fuel, materials, staff, retail and transportation cited as the key sources of inflationary pressures. Input costs rose sharply, though at the slowest pace in five months. Ongoing cost increases led companies to lift their own selling prices in July. Despite the rate of inflation softening from June's near five-year peak, the latest rise was solid and the seventeenth in successive months.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17307.25, down by 38.20 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 17225.85 and 17385.00. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.49%, TCS up by 1.37%, Infosys up by 1.31%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.58% and Asian Paints up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.93%, Tata Motors down by 2.82%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.03%, Sun Pharma down by 1.97% and UPL down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 147.17 points or 0.53% to 27,741.90, Hang Seng increased 77.88 points or 0.4% to 19,767.09, Jakarta Composite soared 58.48 points or 0.84% to 7,046.64, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 29.79 points or 0.2% to 14,777.02, KOSPI rose 21.83 points or 0.89% to 2,461.45 and Straits Times was up by 14.65 points or 0.45% to 3,253.80. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 22.60 points or 0.71% to 3,163.67.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 6.40 points or 0.1% to 6,416.20 and Germany’s DAX was up by 1.77 points or 0.01% to 13,450.97. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 10.70 points or 0.14% to 7,398.41.