Bourses trade flat in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets wiped out all their gains and traded near neutral lines with negative bias in late afternoon session. Meanwhile, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index added more losses. Traders were seen piling up positions in Banking sector while selling was witnessed in Metal, Power and Realty sector stocks. Sector wise, defence sector remained in limelight after defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said the government has set itself a target of achieving defence exports of USD 5 billion by 2025. He also said the government was eyeing overall turnover of USD 22 billion in defence production in the same timeframe. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as Treasury yields continued to climb, with traders betting the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates until inflation is defeated, and as investors assessed companies’ resilience to a multitude of headwinds in the latest earnings reports. European markets were trading lower as political chaos in the U.K. continues following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss. A leadership contest will now take place over the next week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59,143.22, down by 59.68 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 59240.69 and 59590.93. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.84%, while Small cap index was down by 0.60%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex was up by 2.00%, while Metal down by 1.25%, Power down by 1.01%, Realty down by 0.94%, Utilities down by 0.83% and Industrials was down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 7.63%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.20%, ICICI Bank up by 1.94%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.94% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.10%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.34%, Asian Paints down by 1.64%, Power Grid down by 1.24% and Tata Steel down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that the world currently is looking at India with great confidence. He said this trust has developed after 8 years of painstakingly building up India’s story. He said structural reforms have been the core agenda of the government, helping us to lay the building blocks for the future.’

The minister noted that India’s billion plus population is the boon for the country as it attracts a lot of companies, brings economies of scale and opportunities for the country. He said India must make quality our brand and must strive to ensure that India is associated with High Quality products. He said ‘making quality our brand will truly revolutionize the future of India and the possibilities for our export sector to grow much faster’.

He further said that Indian Missions abroad have been asked to provide support to exporters, help them get new opportunities, new business into those countries. He asked them to start engaging with India missions and seek assistance if they face any difficulty.  He said Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) acts as a bridge between government and exporters and provides a platform to understand each other better. He urged CII to flag the issues faced by industry and share suggestions with the government to properly address these issues.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,542.60, up by 21.35 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 17550.55 and 17670.15. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 7.71%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.48%, ICICI Bank up by 2.01%, ONGC up by 1.97% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.88%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 3.11%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.01%, Hindalco down by 1.90%, Divi's Lab down by 1.83% and Adani Ports down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 126.90 points or 0.98% to 12,819.20, Nikkei 225 slipped 116.38 points or 0.43% to 26,890.58, Hang Seng decreased 69.10 points or 0.42% to 16,211.12, Straits Times trembled 49.01 points or 1.62% to 2,973.69 and KOSPI was down by 4.97 points or 0.22% to 2,213.12. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 3.88 points or 0.13% to 3,038.93 and Jakarta Composite was up by 37.12 points or 0.53% to 7,017.77.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 50.17 points or 0.72% to 6,893.74, France’s CAC decreased 101.48 points or 1.67% to 5,985.42 and Germany’s DAX was down by 199.46 points or 1.56% to 12,567.95.