Weak trade persists over Dalal Street

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red terrain, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were pessimistic, as the latest Union Health Ministry data showed that India Wednesday recorded 16,047 new coronavirus cases and 54 fatalities including six reconciled by Kerala. With these additions, the country's overall Covid figures rose to 4,41,90,697 cases and 5,26,826 deaths.

Traders were seen taking a note of Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran’s statement that the private sector needs to invest more in technology and research and development, and pay the MSME suppliers on time to help the economy. Stating that Indian economy cannot remain exempt from the global challenges but it remains resilient and is poised for a rebound as the banking system is better, the CEA said inflationary issues are peaking out and ongoing recovery is healthy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after China consumer price inflation accelerated to the highest in two years in July driven by pork prices, while factory gate inflation continued to ease. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that consumer price inflation rose to a two-year high of 2.7 percent in July from 2.5 percent in June.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58776.75, down by 76.32 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 58583.36 and 58984.32. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.54%, Metal up by 0.73%, Industrials up by 0.60%, Basic Materials up by 0.44% and Healthcare up by 0.15%, while IT down by 1.04%, TECK down by 0.81%, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, Consumer Durables down by 0.50% and Utilities down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.65%, ICICI Bank up by 1.42%, Indusind Bank up by 1.32%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24% and Sun Pharma up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.81%, NTPC down by 2.17%, Wipro down by 1.73%, HCL Tech. down by 1.30% and Infosys down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK are progressing at a faster pace. He said the agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries.

The minister said 'India has signed a trade pact with the UAE in a record time and now our talks with the UK is moving at a faster pace’. In such pacts, two or more countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, they ease norms for promoting trade in goods and investments. In January, India and the UK formally launched talks for a free trade agreement. They have set the deadline for concluding talks by Diwali.

Goyal further said India is also negotiating similar pacts with Canada, European Union (EU), and Israel, and added that several other nations have shown keen interest in negotiating trade agreements with India. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) want to negotiate these pacts. However, he said that the commerce ministry does not have enough resources to simultaneously negotiate a free trade pact with more nations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17510.55, down by 14.55 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17442.80 and 17566.10. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 3.02%, Coal India up by 1.69%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.59%, UPL up by 1.53% and ICICI Bank up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.86%, NTPC down by 2.29%, ONGC down by 1.83%, Wipro down by 1.70% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 469.08 points or 2.34% to 19,534.36, Nikkei 225 slipped 180.46 points or 0.64% to 27,819.50, Taiwan Weighted dropped 111.26 points or 0.74% to 14,939.02, Jakarta Composite lost 62.32 points or 0.88% to 7,040.56, KOSPI fell 17.76 points or 0.71% to 2,485.70 and Shanghai Composite declined 18.59 points or 0.57% to 3,228.84. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 14.11 points or 0.43% to 3,285.09.