Bourses continue sluggish trade in late afternoon session

Local equity benchmarks continued their sluggish trade in late afternoon session led by losses in information technology and TECK stocks. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading lower. The overall market breadth was negative as 2116 shares were declining and 1359 were advancing, while 198 shares were unchanged on the BSE. Sentiments remained down-beat after country's foreign exchange reserves fell $ 6.687 billion to $ 564.053 billion in the week ended August 19, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. In the previous week ended August 12, the reserves declined $2.238 billion to $570.74 billion. In stock specific, Reliance Industries remained in focused, as Reliance Jio at the company’s 45th Annual General Meeting (AGM), chairman Mukesh Ambani said the company has committed Rs 2-trillion investment towards 5G technology. Reliance Jio has prepared the world’s fastest 5G rollout plan. By Diwali, we will launch Jio5G across multiple key cities.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, amid U.S. Treasury yields rose and the dollar index traded at its highest level in over 20 years, after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated high interest rates will continue for some time to curb inflation. European markets were trading lower as comments from central bank policymakers heightened fears of aggressive measures to stamp out inflation amid rising risks of a recession.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58138.29, down by 695.58 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 57367.47 and 58208.30. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.79%, while Small cap index was down by 0.49%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.54%, Energy up by 0.37% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.23%, while IT down by 3.33%, TECK down by 3.14%, Bankex down by 1.73%, Metal down by 1.54% and Realty was down by 1.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.09%, Nestle up by 0.96%, ITC up by 0.59%, Asian Paints up by 0.50% and Reliance Industries up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.15%, Infosys down by 3.96%, Wipro down by 2.94%, TCS down by 2.90% and HCL Tech down by 2.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, calling for linking Start-Ups with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that the Government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking all measures including necessary policy changes to strengthen the MSME.

Singh further noted that this sector has played an important role in shaping the Atma Nirbhar Bharat, adding that the government has substantially increased the budget in the last eight years to strengthen the MSME sector. The Minister also said that the government is encouraging unique local products to reach the global markets and, in the process, strengthening the Indian economy.

Jitendra Singh also said that young entrepreneurs are now quitting their jobs in the IT sector and MNCs to establish their own startups, as these young entrepreneurs are now beginning to realise that investing in agriculture is one of the very few safe and profitable businesses.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17355.60, down by 203.30 points or 1.16% after trading in a range of 17166.20 and 17380.15. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia up by 2.02%, Nestle up by 1.08%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.04%, Tata Consumer up by 0.82% and ITC up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.18%, Infosys down by 3.96%, Wipro down by 2.95%, HCL Tech down by 2.92% and TCS down by 2.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 762.42 points or 2.66% to 27,878.96, Taiwan Weighted dropped 352.25 points or 2.31% to 14,926.19, Hang Seng decreased 146.82 points or 0.73% to 20,023.22, KOSPI fell 54.14 points or 2.18% to 2,426.89, Straits Times trembled 25.97 points or 0.8% to 3,223.56 and Jakarta Composite was down by 3.21 points or 0.04% to 7,132.04. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.51 points or 0.14% to 3,240.73.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 52.43 points or 0.7% to 7,427.31, France’s CAC decreased 93.64 points or 1.49% to 6,180.62 and Germany’s DAX was down by 175.81 points or 1.36% to 12,795.66.