Markets trade at day’s low points in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks traded at day’s low points in late afternoon session. The overall market breadth was negative as 2503 shares were declining and 905 were advancing, while 133 shares were unchanged on the BSE. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading lower. Power Grid was the biggest loser among the Sensex 30 stocks. Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were the other noticeable losers. Sector wise, telecom stock remained in limelight with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement that the government is investing nearly $30 billion to ensure last-mile network accessibility for 4G and 5G in every village across the country and build a robust digital infrastructure in the rural areas. Vaishnaw said the government has reached out to over 1.5 lakh gram panchayats to date.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower following the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, amid continuing concerns about the impending recession and the global economic outlook following the recent aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Fed and other major central banks. European markets were trading lower by Credit Suisse and as an array of data pointing to an economic downturn in the region added to worries over a hawkish Federal Reserve.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58121.04, down by 998.68 points or 1.69% after trading in a range of 58121.04 and 59143.32. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 2.19%, while Small cap index was down by 1.72%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 3.36%, Power down by 3.27%, PSU down by 3.20%, Bankex down by 2.69%, Realty down by 2.49%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.42%, Infosys up by 0.56%, Tata Steel up by 0.53%, ITC up by 0.25% and HCL Tech up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 9.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.26%, NTPC down by 2.88%, HDFC Bank down by 2.86% and HDFC down by 2.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh has said India is working to transform its energy landscape with a significant clean energy share. He, however, asserted the country will achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

He mentioned, by 2030, India has agreed to reach 500GW non-fossil energy capacity, shift 50 per cent of energy its requirements to renewable sources, lower overall anticipated carbon emissions by one billion tonnes and reduce carbon intensity of the economy by 45 per cent over the 2005 levels.

Besides, highlighting the need to strengthen long-term private sector engagement, he said the transition to bioeconomy is based on projects under development and deployment with high investment and high-risk ambitions. He said 'I share one such milestone example. A pilot plant of 10 tons per day capacity with integrated enzyme production is being set up at Panipat Haryana. This plant will be commissioned by December and this will be the 1st indigenous technology for on-site enzyme production.'

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17341.90, down by 287.90 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 17341.45 and 17642.15. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 2.32%, Sun Pharma up by 1.28%, Cipla up by 1.23%, Infosys up by 0.49% and Tata Steel up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 9.43%, Hindalco down by 3.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.31%, Apollo Hospital down by 3.04% and HDFC Bank down by 3.00% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng decreased 214.68 points or 1.18% to 17,933.27, Taiwan Weighted dropped 166.25 points or 1.16% to 14,118.38, Nikkei 225 slipped 159.30 points or 0.58% to 27,153.83, KOSPI fell 42.31 points or 1.81% to 2,290.00, Jakarta Composite lost 40.33 points or 0.56% to 7,178.58, Straits Times trembled 33.70 points or 1.03% to 3,229.37 and Shanghai Composite was down by 20.54 points or 0.66% to 3,088.37.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 55.00 points or 0.77% to 7,104.52, France’s CAC decreased 30.69 points or 0.52% to 5,887.81 and Germany’s DAX was down by 72.74 points or 0.58% to 12,458.89.