Bourses continue to trade with hefty losses in late afternoon session

Local equities continued to trade with hefty losses in late afternoon session dragged by heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks amid weak global cues. Asian Paints, Tata Steel and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major Sensex losers. Only four of the 30 scrips were trading in positive on Sensex. Sentiments remained down-beat after India`s foreign exchange (forex) reserves fell by $2.238 billion to $570.74 billion for the week ended August 12. India`s forex reserves have declined sharply in recent weeks as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold dollars to defend the rupee. There was a sharp drop in the foreign currency assets during the week under review.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors awaited a slew of U.S. data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's keynote address at the Kansas City Fed's two-day annual economic symposium this week for fresh clues on the economic and rate outlook. European markets were trading lower as fears of more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank returned to the fore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58995.72, down by 650.43 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 58880.54 and 59402.50. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.39%, while Small cap index was down by 0.77%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.68%, Utilities up by 0.67% and FMCG was up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.90%, Basic Materials down by 1.86%, Bankex down by 1.78%, Realty down by 1.77%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.64% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.04%, Nestle up by 0.74%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.18% and Reliance Industries up by 0.07%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.83%, Tata Steel down by 3.32%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.74%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.44% and Ultratech Cement down by 2.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing need to accept good technology, research, innovation and successful practices from across the world and from within India, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari has said that India has got huge potential in infrastructure. He noted that in Indian infrastructure, there is huge potential for road construction, river connectivity, solid and liquid waste management, parking plaza, irrigation, busports, ropeways and cable car projects.

Union Transport Minister further said that the future of Indian infrastructure sector is very bright. He further said ‘We should use alternative materials to reduce cost without compromising on quality. Time is the most important aspect in construction, it is the biggest asset.’ The Minister underlined the role of civil engineers and said it is very important for job creation and for growth.

Pitching his idea of using greener alternatives in road construction, Union Transport Minister said ‘You should find alternatives to cement and other raw materials. Glass fibre steel can be used in place of steel. If there is competition, cost will come down and become reasonable.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17553.00, down by 205.45 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 17522.90 and 17690.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 1.12%, Coal India up by 0.99%, Nestle up by 0.96%, Tata Consumer up by 0.89% and Britannia up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.74%, Tata Steel down by 3.45%, Divi's Lab down by 3.23%, JSW Steel down by 2.81% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 163.64 points or 1.06% to 15,245.14, Nikkei 225 slipped 135.83 points or 0.47% to 28,794.50, Hang Seng decreased 116.05 points or 0.59% to 19,656.98, Jakarta Composite lost 64.45 points or 0.9% to 7,107.98 and KOSPI was down by 30.19 points or 1.21% to 2,462.50. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 14.34 points or 0.44% to 3,260.85 and Shanghai Composite was up by 19.71 points or 0.6% to 3,277.79.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 55.89 points or 0.74% to 7,494.48, France’s CAC decreased 116.98 points or 1.8% to 6,378.85 and Germany’s DAX was down by 268.06 points or 1.98% to 13,276.46.