Sluggish trend continues on street

Mirroring other Asian peers, Indian bourses continued southward journey and were trading with cut of 1% each in noon session with Sensex and Nifty tumbling by 596 and 179 points respectively.  Sentiments were fragile as minutes of the monetary policy committee (MPC) deliberation for the August monetary policy review indicated more interest rate hikes in the coming months as the retail inflation remained elevated. Traders were also anxious as India's foreign exchange reserves slumped by over $2 billion in the week ending August 12, as the Reserve Bank of India intervened to shore up the rupee and keep the currency below 80 per dollar. The RBI's weekly statistical supplement data showed that the country's forex reserves slumped to $570.74 billion in the week ending August 12, down by $2.238 billion from $572.978 billion in the previous week. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower amid risk aversion in the market with the intensified concerns over global economic slowdown, after hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve. Back home, losses in banking, realty, consumer and consumer discretionary shares pulled the headline indices lower. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped declines in the ratio of 2105:1315; while 159 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59049.22, down by 596.93 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 58949.10 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 lost 0.95%, while Small cap index was down by 0.54%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.96%, Utilities up by 0.91% and FMCG was up by 0.37%, while Bankex down by 1.66%, Realty down by 1.30%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.25%, Auto down by 1.24% and Basic Materials was down by 1.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.90%, Nestle up by 0.68% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.96%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.62%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.20%, Axis Bank down by 2.18% and Tata Steel was down by 1.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, labour ministry has said that retail inflation for farm and rural workers increased to 6.60 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively, in July 2022 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.

Similarly, food inflation stood at 5.38 per cent & 5.44 per cent in July, 2022 compared to 5.09 per cent & 5.16 per cent respectively in June, 2022 and 2.66 per cent & 2.74 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year. The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers for July, 2022 increased by 6 points each to stand at 1131 and 1143 points respectively. The CPI-AL was 1125 points in June 2022, while CPI-RL was 1137 points in the month.

The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from food group to the extent of 4.41 & 4.07 points respectively mainly due to increase in prices of rice, wheat-atta, bajra, pulses, milk, fish fresh, onion, chillies green/dry, ginger, mixed spices, vegetables & fruits, tea readymade, etc. The rise in the index varied from state to state. In the case of Agricultural Labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 13 points in 20 States. Tamil Nadu with 1301 points topped the index table, whereas Himachal Pradesh with 890 points stood at the bottom.

In the case of Rural Labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 13 points in 20 States. Tamil Nadu with 1290 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with 942 points stood at the bottom. Amongst states, the maximum increase in the Consumer Price Index Numbers for both Agricultural and Rural Labourers was experienced by Assam (13 points each) mainly due to rise in the prices of rice, chillies green, vegetables & fruits, etc.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17578.60, down by 179.85 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 17544.25 and 17690.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 1.27%, Britannia Inds up by 0.90%, ITC up by 0.88%, Nestle up by 0.71% and Tata Consumer Products was up by 0.36%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 3.47%, Asian Paints down by 2.94%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.59% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 2.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 46.41 points or 0.23% to 19,726.62, Nikkei 225 slipped 135.83 points or 0.47% to 28,794.50, KOSPI fell 30.19 points or 1.21% to 2,462.50, Taiwan Weighted dropped 163.64 points or 1.06% to 15,245.14 and Jakarta Composite was down by 80.29 points or 1.12% to 7,092.14.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite gained 15.51 points or 0.48% to 3,273.59 and Straits Times was up by 20.82 points or 0.64% to 3,267.33.