Local equities continue to show sluggish trend

Indian equity benchmarks continued to show sluggish trend in morning session, with losses of around a percent each tracking weakness across most global peers amid persistent concerns about the resilience of the world economy. Traders remained cautious with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement that India faces a challenge to ensure that its economic interests are well protected and its consumers are shielded to the extent possible from the enormous jump in the oil prices in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. Some concern also came as retail inflation for farm and rural workers increased to 6.60 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively, in July mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. In June retail inflation for farm and rural workers stood at 6.43 per cent and 6.76 per cent respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed after another Federal Reserve official flagged the likelihood of continued aggressive monetary tightening. Investors looked ahead to the Fed's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell's key speech might offer additional clues about the pace of future interest-rate hikes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59099.05, down by 547.10 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 59034.52 and 59402.50. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.20%, while Small cap index was down by 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.64%, Utilities up by 0.57% and FMCG up by 0.46%, while Realty down by 1.65%, Bankex down by 1.64%, Metal down by 1.64%, Basic Materials down by 1.60% and Auto down by 1.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.22%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.99% and NTPC up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.75%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.28%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.06%, Tata Steel down by 2.00% and Asian Paints down by 1.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Labour ministry has said that retirement fund body -- Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) added 18.36 lakh new subscribers in June 2022, registering 43 per cent rise as compared to the year-ago period. EPFO had added 12.83 lakh net new subscribers in June 2021.
It stated in June this year, the net member addition increased by 9.21 per cent as compared to May 2022. Out of the total 18.36 lakh members added during the month, around 10.54 lakh new members have been covered under EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. It showed the new enrolment during the month was higher than the monthly average recorded during the last fiscal year.

It mentioned that the age group of 22-25 years registered the highest number of net enrolments with 4.72 lakh additions during June 2022. This showed that many first-time job seekers are joining the organized sector workforce in large numbers. State-wise comparison of payroll figures highlighted that the establishments covered in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi continue to remain in lead by adding approximately 12.61 lakh net members during the month, which is 68.66 per cent of the total net payroll addition across all age groups.

Besides, it stated new members joining has shown a growing trend since April 2022. Approximately 7.82 lakh net members exited but rejoined EPFO by changing their jobs within the establishments covered by EPFO and opted to transfer their funds from previous PF account to the current account instead of applying for final PF withdrawal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17584.20, down by 174.25 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 17567.60 and 17690.05. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Inds up by 1.38%, ITC up by 1.35%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.97%, Tata Consumer Product up by 0.43% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital down by 2.98%, Divi's Lab down by 2.92%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.70%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.20% and Hindalco down by 2.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 146.16 points or 0.51% to 28,784.17, Taiwan Weighted dropped 142.82 points or 0.93% to 15,265.96, Jakarta Composite lost 80.29 points or 1.12% to 7,092.14 and KOSPI fell 31.01 points or 1.24% to 2,461.68.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 18.46 points or 0.57% to 3,276.54, Straits Times advanced 19.48 points or 0.6% to 3,265.99 and Hang Seng increased 39.49 points or 0.2% to 19,812.52.