Bourses pare some gains in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks pared some of their gains in late afternoon session but continued to trade higher. Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Capital Goods and Industrials sectors while selling was witnessed in Healthcare and Telecom sectors’ stocks. Gains remained capped, as growth in world trade is expected to slow down to one per cent in 2023, due to global uncertainties, according to a WTO forecast. In scrip specific development, Zee Entertainment remained in limelight after CCI granted conditional approval to the proposed merger of the company with Sony Pictures Networks India. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green despite the broadly negative cues from global markets overnight, with the gains led by energy and technology stocks, even as central banks around the world appear poised to continue raising interest in the months ahead, potentially tipping the global economy into a recession as they combat elevated inflation. European markets were trading higher despite skepticism over the durability of the recent U.S. market rally.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58303.76, up by 238.29 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 58290.47 and 58578.76. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.01%, while Small cap index was up by 1.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.24%, Capital Goods up by 2.26%, Realty up by 2.06%, Industrials up by 1.93% and Power was up by 1.66%, while Healthcare down by 0.23%, Telecom down by 0.17% and FMCG was down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.31%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.28%, Tata Steel up by 1.83%, HCL Tech up by 1.73% and Axis Bank up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.94%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.93%, Indusind Bank down by 1.52%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.42% and Power Grid down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s services sector growth declined in the month of September, as both new business inflows and output rose at the slowest rates since March, amid inflationary pressures and competitive conditions, which in turn dampened job creation. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 57.2 in August to 54.3 in September. Further, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services -- slipped from 58.2 in August to 55.1 in September, pointing to the weakest rate of expansion since March but one that was above its long-run average.

As per the report, weak external demand weighed on overall sales, with international orders declining further in September. Monthly contractions have been recorded in each month since the onset of COVID-19. It also noted that capacity pressures moderated in September, with services companies signalling the slowest increase in backlogs since February. Nevertheless, efforts to clear pending workloads and ongoing expansions in sales supported another round of job creation. However, employment rose at a slower rate than in August.

On the inflation front, service providers signalled a further increase in their operating expenses during September, owing to higher energy, food, labour and material costs. The overall rate of inflation was little-changed from August. Although selling prices once again rose at an above-trend pace, the overall rate of inflation slipped to a six-month low. Meanwhile, marketing efforts and forecasts of sales growth boosted business confidence in September. Services firms were at their most upbeat towards the outlook in over seven-and-a-half years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17353.40, up by 79.10 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 17340.65 and 17428.80. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.07%, JSW Steel up by 4.07%, Coal India up by 3.83%, ICICI Bank up by 2.29% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.22%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.09%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.98%, Divi's Lab down by 1.68%, Indusind Bank down by 1.42% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 190.77 points or 0.7% to 27,311.30, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 90.62 points or 0.66% to 13,892.05, KOSPI rose 22.64 points or 1.02% to 2,237.86, Straits Times advanced 5.90 points or 0.19% to 3,159.13 and Jakarta Composite was up by 1.23 points or 0.02% to 7,076.62. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 16.81 points or 0.55% to 3,024.39 and Hang Seng was down by 75.82 points or 0.42% to 18,012.15.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.97 points or 0.01% to 7,053.59, France’s CAC increased 12.62 points or 0.21% to 5,998.08 and Germany’s DAX was up by 55.03 points or 0.44% to 12,572.21.