Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in late afternoon session. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading above half a percent. Sentiments remained upbeat after India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 13.93% in the month of July 2022 as against 15.18% in June, as prices of food articles, nonfood articles and crude petroleum & natural gas declined. Sector wise, Oil & Gas industry remain in focused, as diesel demand in India fell for the second month in a row as the onset of monsoon chipped away consumption in key sectors like agriculture. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with growing concerns of a global recession. European markets were trading higher buoyed by defensive sectors and miners, although concerns over a potential recession limited further upside.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59805.51, up by 342.73 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 59673.96 and 59923.03. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.85%, while Small cap index was up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.28%, Realty up by 1.88%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.43%, Industrials up by 1.28% and Oil & Gas was up by 1.28%, while Metal was down by 0.46% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86%, Asian Paints up by 1.71%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.47% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.86%, SBI down by 0.57%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.19%, NTPC down by 0.13% and TCS down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 13.93% in the month of July 2022 as against 15.18% in June, as prices of food articles, nonfood articles and crude petroleum & natural gas declined.

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, declined by 2.69% to 177.5 (provisional) in July, 2022 from 182.4 (provisional) for the month of June, 2022. Prices of Minerals increased in July 2022 as compared to June 2022. Prices of Food Articles, Nonfood Articles and Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas declined in July 2022 as compared to June 2022.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by (6.56%) to 165.6 (provisional) in July 2022 from 155.4 (provisional) for the month of June 2022, as prices of mineral oils and electricity increased in July 2022 as compared to June 2022.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, declined by 0.42% to 143.1 (provisional) in July 2022 from 143.7 (provisional) for the month of June 2022. Meanwhile, for the month of May, 2022 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 155.0 and 16.63 % respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17807.80, up by 109.65 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 17764.05 and 17839.10. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 4.18%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.95%, Eicher Motors up by 3.52%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.50% and BPCL up by 3.23%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 1.80%, Hindalco down by 1.59%, JSW Steel down by 0.74%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.68% and SBI down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite soared 40.17 points or 0.57% to 7,133.45, KOSPI rose 5.58 points or 0.22% to 2,533.52, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 3.22 points or 0.02% to 15,420.57 and Shanghai Composite was up by 1.79 points or 0.05% to 3,277.88. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 2.87 points or 0.01% to 28,868.91, Straits Times trembled 5.92 points or 0.18% to 3,250.90 and Hang Seng was down by 210.34 points or 1.05% to 19,830.52.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 33.62 points or 0.45% to 7,542.77, France’s CAC increased 37.56 points or 0.57% to 6,607.51 and Germany’s DAX was up by 127.37 points or 0.92% to 13,943.98.