Bourses trim most of losses in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in late afternoon session. Buying in FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto stocks helped the markets to cut some losses. Traders took note of report that India is planning to set up a strategic gas reserve on the lines of its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) amid global energy crisis. The government is planning to utilise existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) tunnels and exhausted oil wells and also planning to build new underground infrastructure similar to the large salt caverns for SPR. In scrip specific, Fortis Heathcare remained in focused after reports said top court ordered the continuation of a stay on IHH Healthcare's open offer for the company. The Supreme Court also remanded the issue of the Fortis-IHH deal to the Delhi High Court and directed it to consider a forensic auditor's appointment.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower. However, European markets were trading higher after Federal Reserve officials raised rates by 75 basis points for the third consecutive meting and signaled even more aggressive hikes than investors had envisioned in the months ahead to cool stubbornly high inflation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59372.34, down by 84.44 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 58832.78 and 59457.58. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.34%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.45%, Consumer Durables up by 1.06%, Auto up by 0.83%, Telecom up by 0.69% and Industrials was up by 0.60%, while Bankex down by 0.89%, Realty down by 0.38%, PSU down by 0.25%, Energy down by 0.15% and Healthcare was down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 2.70%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.49%, Asian Paints up by 2.27%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.62% and ITC up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.94%, Axis Bank down by 1.83%, HDFC Bank down by 1.60%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.32% and HDFC down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, former finance minister P Chidambaram has said that Centre government’s MUDRA loan scheme is 'practically worthless’ in promoting businesses. Chidambaram also said he is not surprised that the non-performing asset (NPA) ratio is the highest under the MUDRA loan scheme.

He stated the State Bank of India has taken pride that in the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry zone, the bank had distributed Rs 1000 crore to 26,750 MUDRA beneficiaries in 2021-22. Mighty impressive numbers until one does the mathematics, he said, adding that the average size of the loan to 26,750 beneficiaries is only Rs 3.73 lakh. What new business can be started with Rs 3.73 lakh and how many jobs can be created with Rs 3.73 lakh.

The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17692.10, down by 26.25 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 17532.45 and 17722.75. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 2.82%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.54%, Asian Paints up by 2.39%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.81% and ITC up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 3.19%, Axis Bank down by 1.77%, HDFC Bank down by 1.65%, Coal India down by 1.58% and SBI Life down by 1.38% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Nikkei 225 slipped 375.29 points or 1.36% to 27,313.13, Hang Seng decreased 336.80 points or 1.79% to 18,444.62, Taiwan Weighted dropped 124.78 points or 0.86% to 14,424.52, KOSPI fell 20.64 points or 0.87% to 2,347.21, Jakarta Composite lost 8.64 points or 0.12% to 7,188.31, Shanghai Composite declined 5.23 points or 0.17% to 3,117.18 and Straits Times was down by 5.15 points or 0.16% to 3,261.79.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 44.98 points or 0.63% to 7,237.64, France’s CAC increased 51.86 points or 0.87% to 6,031.33 and Germany’s DAX was up by 96.32 points or 0.76% to 12,767.15.