Benchmarks trim losses; trade continues in red

Indian equities trimmed losses but continued their weak trade in the afternoon session on account of selling in front line counters and taking cues from Asian counterparts. The sentiments remained on cautious note as peaked US CPI data spurred fears about more aggressive rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve. US inflation index for August unexpectedly rose as declining gasoline prices were offset by gains in the costs of rent and food. However, markets trimmed their losses as India's annual wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) eased to 12.41% year-on-year in August from 13.93% in the previous month. The number has remained in double digits for the 17th consecutive month. In scrip specific developments, Ami Organics jumped as Small Cap World Fund buys 15.97 lakh shares and Praveg Communications (India) hits new 52-week high on getting LoA from Varanasi Development Authority. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60325.55, down by 245.53 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 59417.12 and 60373.83. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.81%, PSU up by 0.80%, Telecom up by 0.66%, Metal up by 0.57% and Basic Materials was up by 0.53%, while IT down by 3.11%, TECK down by 2.66%, Realty down by 1.17%, Capital Goods down by 0.58% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.81%, NTPC up by 2.27%, SBI up by 2.08%, Power Grid up by 1.39% and Nestle was up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 4.11%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.44%, TCS down by 3.31%, HCL Tech down by 2.37% and Wipro was down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said there is no shortage of crop nutrients in the country and asserted that there will be no hike in the prices of non-urea products. Mandaviya also said that Nutrient Based Policy (NBS) for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the Rabi season (October 2022 to March 2023) will be announced shortly.

He mentioned ‘we will not allow any increase in retail prices of DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) and other non-urea fertilisers.’ He added that the government would absorb the burden of high global prices. Earlier, the minister projected that the government's fertiliser subsidy would be between Rs 2.25-2.5 lakh crore this fiscal as against Rs 1.62 lakh crore in the last financial year.

Besides, he also said that farmers are increasingly adopting nano liquid urea, which is good for soil health as compared to the conventional urea. Nano urea has been launched in the country by cooperative major IFFCO. At present, the country's urea (conventional) production is 260 lakh tonnes while around 90 lakh tonnes are imported to meet the local demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18017.35, down by 52.70 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 17771.15 and 18018.10. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 4.30%, SBI up by 2.33%, NTPC up by 2.18%, Power Grid up by 1.12% and Eicher Motors was up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 4.11%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.44%, TCS down by 3.33%, HCL Tech down by 2.34% and Wipro was down by 1.53% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 796.01 points or 2.78% to 27,818.62, Taiwan Weighted dropped 236.10 points or 1.59% to 14,658.31, KOSPI fell 38.12 points or 1.56% to 2,411.42, Straits Times trembled 33.50 points or 1.02% to 3,256.58, Shanghai Composite declined 22.32 points or 0.68% to 3,241.48, Hang Seng decreased 460.23 points or 2.38% to 18,866.63 and Jakarta Composite was down by 60.72 points or 0.83% to 7,257.30.