Indian equity markets were languishing in negative territory in late morning deals amid weak global cues on concerns the Federal Reserve's moves to tame inflation through aggressive rate hikes might result in the world's largest economy falling into a recession. The Fed, which is scheduled to meet next week, is widely expected to announce another 75-basis point rate to fight soaring inflation. Broader indices on the BSE were trading lower within the range of 0.70-1.10%. Sentiments remained weak as Global Rating agency Moody’s said India’s rated infrastructure firms can largely withstand further depreciation in the value of rupee against US dollar due to financial hedges and other mitigants. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red following the negative cues from US markets overnight, as weak crude oil and bullion prices weigh on energy and materials stocks. Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in red led by IT, TECK, Auto, Energy and Metal. Meanwhile, shares of defence and its related companies traded higher on the bourses on the back of strong business outlook. Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers and Bharat Dynamics have surged up to 11 per cent.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59291.77, down by 642.24 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 59154.73 and 59720.56. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.10%, while Small cap index down by 0.71%.
The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were IT down by 2.08%, TECK down by 1.93%, Auto down by 1.80%, Energy down by 1.24% and Metal down by 1.16%, while there were no gainers.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.00%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.26%, Titan Co up by 0.39%, Asian Paints up by 0.16% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.14%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.79%, TCS down by 2.36%, Infosys down by 2.20% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.89% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that domestic air passenger traffic rose 5 percent to 1.02 crore in August 2022 and a fast-paced recovery in the traffic is expected this fiscal on the back of normalcy in flight operations and widening vaccination coverage. It further said that international traffic for Indian carriers surpassed the pre-COVID level of around 19.8 lakh by 32 percent.
According to the report, the domestic aviation industry continues to witness recovery, with domestic passenger traffic for August 2022 estimated at around 102 lakh, around 5 percent higher compared to around 97 lakh in July 2022 and around 52 per cent higher in comparison to the domestic passenger traffic in August 2021, although it fell short by around 14 per cent, compared to pre-COVID levels i.e. August 2019. In the first five months of this fiscal, domestic passenger traffic is estimated at nearly 5.24 crore, a year-on-year growth of nearly 131 percent.
The report noted that the airline's capacity deployment in August was around 37 percent, compared to the year-ago period but lower by nearly 10 percent than the pre-COVID level. It also said that a quick recovery in domestic passenger traffic is expected in FY2023, aided by normalcy in operations and a waning pandemic. However, the earnings recovery for domestic airlines will be slow-paced due to elevated ATF prices in addition to the rupee depreciation against the USD amid a heightened competitive environment.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17689.60, down by 187.80 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 17642.80 and 17820.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.01%, Cipla up by 2.15%, Sun Pharma Inds up by 1.22%, Titan Co up by 0.42% and SBI Life Insurance up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.95%, Tata Consumer Products down by 3.92%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.19%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.79% and TCS down by 2.40% were the top losers.
All the Asian markets were trading in red; Straits Times fell 4.83 points or 0.15% to 3,263.15, Nikkei 225 slipped 286.34 points or 1.03% to 27,589.57, Hang Seng dropped 85.15 points or 0.45% to 18,845.23, Taiwan Weighted lost 130.55 points or 0.89% to 14,539.49, KOSPI declined 24.41 points or 1.02% to 2,377.42, Jakarta Composite plunged 122.75 points or 1.68% to 7,182.85 and Shanghai Composite was down by 37.29 points or 1.17% to 3,162.63.
