Bourses continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in late afternoon session on the back of selling in Realty and IT stocks. Traders were cautious after Fitch Ratings slashed India’s GDP growth projection for FY23 to 7 per cent, saying the economy is expected to slow against the backdrop of global economy, elevated inflation and high interest rate. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as India's merchandise trade deficit in August widened to $27.98 billion from $11.71 billion a year earlier. However, the broader indices the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading with marginal gains. In scrip specific, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank remained in focused, as it has debuted at Rs 510.00 on the BSE, down by 15 points or 2.86% from its issue price of Rs 525. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as markets adjusted following a rout this week on higher-than-expected US inflation data. European markets were trading mostly in green following modest gains in the U.S. yesterday and Asia-Pacific markets overnight.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60027.01, down by 319.96 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 59889.25 and 60676.12. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.01%, Utilities up by 1.94%, Industrials up by 0.69%, Auto up by 0.68% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.53%, while Realty down by 1.57%, IT down by 1.43%, TECK down by 1.30%, Metal down by 1.19% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.85% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.74%, NTPC up by 2.04%, Power Grid up by 1.91%, HDFC up by 0.67% and SBI up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.67%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.55%, Tata Steel down by 2.02%, Titan Company down by 1.89% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government will take a serious note if an auto company does not allow its component suppliers to locally manufacture the components. He also expressed hope that the industry will continue to promote manufacturing of components in India.

According to him, it was brought to his attention that some auto ancillaries which have collaborations with probably other companies around the world are also facing some stress and some pressure from their joint venture partners. He said this is the matter the government will take up and view very seriously and if at all any joint venture partner is unhappy, it is free to leave. He added that in such a case Indian companies can give them a fair and honourable exit. But, he emphasized that if anybody is being forced on unfair terms, the domestic firm should approach the authorities and the government will be take it up with its counterparts in other countries.

The minister suggested the industry to focus on five areas including quality, increased value addition in India and focus on new markets. He noted that it is important that the industry gets so beautifully organised that the informal sector also comes into focus when it is dealing with quality and fair competition.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17913.35, down by 90.40 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 17862.75 and 18096.15. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 2.74%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.69%, Adani Ports up by 2.31%, Power Grid up by 1.83% and NTPC up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.81%, Infosys down by 2.59%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.33%, Cipla down by 2.30% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 83.28 points or 0.44% to 18,930.38, Nikkei 225 surged 57.29 points or 0.21% to 27,875.91, Jakarta Composite soared 27.52 points or 0.38% to 7,305.60, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 11.73 points or 0.08% to 14,670.04 and Straits Times was up by 8.60 points or 0.26% to 3,266.62. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 9.59 points or 0.4% to 2,401.83 and Shanghai Composite was down by 37.62 points or 1.16% to 3,199.92.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.82 points or 0.48% to 7,312.12 and Germany’s DAX was up by 37.81 points or 0.29% to 13,065.81. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 0.72 points or 0.01% to 6,221.69.