Bourses continue sluggish trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their sluggish trade in late afternoon session. As for broader indices, Small cap index remained in red, while BSE Mid cap index continued to trade in green. Traders were seen piling up positions in PSU, Auto and Capital Goods sectors while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Telecom and Realty sectors’ stocks. Among individual stocks, ICICI Bank was trading higher after it reported 31% rise in Q2 consolidated net profit. Traders were cautious after ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its latest data report has showed that a total of 986,850 people subscribed to employee provident fund during the month of August, an 11 per cent decline in comparison to the previous month. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as concerns over China's growth prospects and a new political order in the country offset hopes of a Fed pivot. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors keep an eye on bond markets and look ahead to Thursday's European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting for directional cues.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59700.55, down by 131.11 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 59568.35 and 60081.24. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.56%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.34%, Auto up by 1.09%, Capital Goods up by 1.07%, Metal up by 0.84% and Industrials was up by 0.77%, while FMCG down by 1.07%, Telecom down by 0.57%, Realty down by 0.38%, Utilities down by 0.20% and Power was down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.20%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.22%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.21%, SBI up by 2.17% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.67%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.61%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.41%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.11% and Reliance Industries down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its latest data report has showed that a total of 986,850 people subscribed to employee provident fund during the month of August, an 11 per cent decline in comparison to the previous month.

As per the report, from September 2017 till August 2022, a total of 5,81,56,630 new subscribers joined the EPF scheme. In the case of ESI, the total number of newly registered employees and paying contributions during August was 1,462,145.

Since September 2017, 7,22,92,232 new subscribers have joined the ESI scheme. Further, data showed that 65,543 subscribers were added to the National Pension Scheme during August, and 37,85,101 joined and contributed to the NPS since September 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17694.10, down by 36.65 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 17653.95 and 17811.50. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.20%, JSW Steel up by 2.38%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.27%, SBI up by 2.21% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.19%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.72%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.59%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.49%, Britannia down by 2.25% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 190.86 points or 1.48% to 12,666.12, Hang Seng decreased 15.10 points or 0.1% to 15,165.59, Jakarta Composite lost 4.66 points or 0.07% to 7,048.38, Shanghai Composite declined 1.28 points or 0.04% to 2,976.28 and KOSPI was down by 1.09 points or 0.05% to 2,235.07. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 9.93 points or 0.33% to 2,979.88 and Nikkei 225 was up by 275.38 points or 1.02% to 27,250.28.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 32.81 points or 0.47% to 6,981.18 and Germany’s DAX was down by 19.19 points or 0.15% to 12,912.26. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by 22.42 points or 0.37% to 6,153.78.