Indian equity benchmarks trade flat in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat in late afternoon session amid weak cues from other Asian markets ahead of the release of a key inflation reading in the US that would bring more clarity on the course of the Fed's hikes in COVID-era interest rates. Gains in Metal, Capital Goods, Basic Materials and Bankex stocks pushed the headline indices higher, though losses in IT, TECK, Consumer Durables and FMCG limited the upside. Traders took note of report that Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said 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. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as investors digest inflation data from China and look ahead to the US CPI report. However, European markets were trading higher amid the European Central Bank is expected to raise rates by 50 bps in September. Back home, in stock specific development, Eveready Industries traded higher on hopes of better business outlook.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58837.13, down by 15.94 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 58583.36 and 58984.32. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.22%, while Small cap index up by 0.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.20%, Capital Goods up by 1.58%, Basic Materials up by 1.03%, Industrials up by 0.61% and Bankex up by 0.19%, while IT down by 1.04%, TECK down by 0.76%, Consumer Durables down by 0.61%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.54% and FMCG down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.93%, Tata Steel up by 1.91%, ICICI Bank up by 1.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.50% and Indusind Bank up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.50%, NTPC down by 2.39%, Wipro down by 1.55%, HCL Tech. down by 1.43% and Infosys down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stressing upon the need for transparency and ease of doing business, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that the world now sees India as an engine of economic growth.

Goyal further stressed that India enjoyed the confidence of the world today, saying that developed countries very keen to sign trade deals with India now. He added that before 2014, Indian economy was considered to be fragile and investors had their doubts about doing business with India.

The Minister assured traders and entrepreneurs that the Government will fully support traders who raise their voice against harassment by any authority. Besides, he called upon traders to work with the Government to reduce compliance burden of people and businesses, but asked that they strictly follow ethical trade practices.
Goyal asked traders to give priority to the quality of goods and services that India offered. He also said that there is need to encourage youngsters to come forward and lend a youthful energy to India’s growth story with new ideas.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17537.55, up by 12.45 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 17442.80 and 17566.10. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 5.22%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 2.21%, UPL up by 2.09%, Coal India up by 2.07% and Tata Steel up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.42%, NTPC down by 2.38%, Wipro down by 1.50%, ONGC down by 1.47% and HCL Tech down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Shanghai Composite fell 17.41 points or 0.54% to 3,230.02, Jakarta Composite lost 16.64 points or 0.23% to 7,086.24, Hang Seng decreased 392.60 points or 1.96% to 19,610.84, Taiwan Weighted dropped 111.26 points or 0.74% to 14,939.02, Nikkei 225 slipped 180.63 points or 0.65% to 27,819.33 and KOSPI was down by 22.58 points or 0.90% to 2,480.88. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 10.13 points or 0.31% to 3,281.11.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.33 points or 0.01% to 7,489.47, France’s CAC rose 4.32 points or 0.07% to 6,495.7 and Germany’s DAX was up by 25.74 points or 0.16% to 13,556.58.