Markets reel under pressure in late afternoon session

Markets were reeling under pressure in later afternoon session ahead of on the weekly futures & options expiry. Traders remained cautious as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could push the policy rate to pre-pandemic levels tomorrow with street expecting the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hike rates by 50 basis points once again. The MPC will end its three-day deliberations tomorrow and eyes will be on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das for guidance on inflation and further rate hikes. On the sectoral front, IT stocks were in Focus after the government’s move to withdraw the personal data protection bill and have sought participation in the consultation process for the fresh draft. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher after encouraging US data and earnings helped ease recession concerns. European markets were trading mostly higher as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan after reiterating her support for the island. Her trip so far has had little impact on markets but there is potential for escalation of tensions. Back home, stock specific development, Subex was locked in upper circuit for the second straight day after Jio Platforms inked pact with Subex HyperSense AI to augment their 5G product line. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57993.63, down by 356.90 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 57577.05 and 58712.66. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.21%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.40%, Metal up by 0.56%, IT up by 0.40%, Basic Materials up by 0.23% and TECK up by 0.23%, while Realty down by 1.61%, Telecom down by 1.61%, PSU down by 1.58%, Energy down by 1.55% and Utilities down by 1.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.85%, Nestle up by 1.83%, Infosys up by 1.39%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.04% and Tata Steel up by 0.23%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.85%, Reliance Industries down by 1.98%, SBI down by 1.89%, Axis Bank down by 1.81% and Power Grid Corp down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that automobile retail sales witnessed a fall of 8 per cent on an annual basis in July in India at 14,36,927 units, as compared with 15,59,106 units in July 2021, on account of fall in registrations of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and tractors.

As per the report, passenger vehicle retail sales witnessed a dip of 5 per cent at 2,50,972 units last month, as against 2,63,238 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, two-wheeler retail sales stood at 10,09,574 units in July, down 11 per cent from 11,33,344 units in July 2021.

Besides, Tractor sales also remained in the slow lane at 59,573 units last month, down 28 per cent from 82,419 units in the year-ago period. However, three-wheeler sales saw positive momentum last month with increase in sales as compared to July 2021, increasing by 80 per cent to 50,349 units, as compared to 27,908 units in the year-ago period. Similarly, commercial vehicle sales witnessed an increase of 27 per cent at 66,459 units in July, as against 52,197 units in the same month last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17302.45, down by 85.70 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 17161.25 and 17490.70. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.45%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.12%, Nestle up by 2.04%, Divi's Lab up by 1.57% and Hindalco up by 1.54%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.76%, Tata Consumer Products down by 3.16%, Coal India down by 2.43%, Reliance Industries down by 1.99% and SBI down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; Shanghai Composite added 25.37 points or 0.80% to 3,189.04, Straits Times advanced 16.48 points or 0.51% to 3,268.54, Nikkei 225 surged 190.30 points or 0.69% to 27,932.20, Jakarta Composite soared 10.71 points or 0.15% to 7,057.35, KOSPI rose 11.66  points or 0.47% to 2,473.11 and Hang Seng was up by 406.95 points or 2.06% to 20,174.04. On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted was down by 74.82 points or 0.51% to 14,702.20.

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 26.56 points or 0.42% to 6,499.02 and Germany’s DAX was up by 99.29 points or 0.73% to 13,686.75. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 18.82 points or 0.26% to 7,426.3.