Sensex, Nifty remain lower in late morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained lower in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty in red, tracking negative other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained pessimistic, amid a private report stating that a number of rating agencies, domestic banks, and groups have pared the forecast for India’s economic growth. Some concerns also came amid reports that India’s economy showed signs of slowing-but-steady growth last month, with businesses holding on to optimism that domestic demand will revive as the peak shopping season approaches.

Traders took a note of reports that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged small businesses to consider “dual listing” to widen their capital raising options. The minister said small companies have the option to list on the main bourses' SME platforms and also on the Gift City in Gandhinagar.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Japan posted a current account surplus of 58.9 billion yen in August, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday - down 96.1 percent on year. That missed forecasts for a surplus of 121.8 billion yen and was down from 229 billion yen in July. Exports were up 23.7 percent on year at 8.059 trillion yen, while imports jumped an annual 52.9 percent to 10.550 trillion yen for a trade deficit of 2.490 trillion yen.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57829.33, down by 161.78 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 57582.99 and 58027.52. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.40%, while Small cap index was down by 0.15%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.71%, Metal down by 1.30%, Oil & Gas down by 0.89%, Healthcare down by 0.81% and Energy down by 0.75%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.43%, Axis Bank up by 1.45%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.62%, Wipro up by 0.57% and ITC up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.52%, Indusind Bank down by 2.33%, NTPC down by 1.43%, TCS down by 1.24% and Titan Co down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile,  Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that vehicle retail sales in the country rose 57 per cent during the Navratri festival this year, clocking a record sales of nearly 5.4 lakh units. Total vehicle retail sales between September 26 and October 5, 2022, stood at 5,39,227 units compared to 3,42,459 units sold during Navratri last year. The sales registered this year were also a record, bettering the previous best of 4,66,128 units in Navratri of 2019. Navratri sales show that customers are back in showrooms after a gap of three years.

As per the FADA data, two-wheeler retail sales in this year's Navratri stood at 3,69,020 units against 2,42,213 units during the festive period last year, showing a growth of 52.35 per cent. Compared to 3,55,851 units clocked in the Navratri of the pre-Covid year 2019 the two-wheeler sales growth was 3.7 per cent. Two-wheeler category, which was continuously showing weakness when compared to pre-Covid months, also registered single-digit growth. Passenger vehicle sales during this year's Navratri stood at 1,10,521 units against 64,850 units last year, a growth of 70.43 per cent.

Similarly, it said commercial vehicle retail also grew by 48.25 per cent to 22,437 units from 15,135 units sold in Navratri last year. The growth was also witnessed in the three-wheeler category, which posted sales of 19,809 units in Navratri this year compared to 9,203 units last year. Tractor sales also jumped 57.66 per cent to 17,440 units from 11,062 units sold in Navratri 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17192.15, down by 48.85 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 17116.60 and 17261.80. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 2.43%, Asian Paints up by 2.39%, Axis Bank up by 1.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.68% and Tata Motors up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 3.68%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.38%, Indusind Bank down by 2.33%, ONGC down by 1.73% and Eicher Motors down by 1.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, KOSPI fell 46.19 points or 2.07% to 2,186.65, Shanghai Composite declined 1.30 points or 0.04% to 2,972.85, Jakarta Composite lost 14.24 points or 0.2% to 6,980.16, Taiwan Weighted dropped 596.25 points or 4.35% to 13,106.03, Nikkei 225 slipped 705.81 points or 2.6% to 26,410.30 and Hang Seng decreased 344.87 points or 2% to 16,871.79. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 0.78 points or 0.03% to 3,108.25.