Bourses continue to reel under pressure in late afternoon session

Local markets continued to reel under pressure in late afternoon session. A level of pressure was also seen in broader indices, as the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading with cut of over half a percent each. Traders were worried after U.S. Federal Reserve officials fired more warning shots on interest rates. In scrip specific developments, Nykaa and Paytm were in focus as shares of the companies changed hands in block deals. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid worries about the U.S. Federal Reserve's tightening cycle and a flare-up in COVID-19 cases in China despite strict measures to fight new outbreaks. However, European markets were trading higher after two straight days of declines, as investors snapped up beaten-down miners, though gains were limited by hawkish comments from more U.S. Federal Reserve officials.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61384.21, down by 366.39 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 61337.43 and 61929.88. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.94%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto down by 1.56%, Consumer Durables down by 1.25%, Energy down by 1.17%, Oil & Gas down by 1.14%, Power down by 1.12%, while there were no gaining indices on BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.35%, SBI up by 0.18%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.18% and HCL Tech up by 0.04%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.00%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.92%, Indusind Bank down by 1.87%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.52% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, calling for some form of self-regulation within the media and entertainment industry with regard to content, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that the industry presented a remarkable opportunity for India but stressed that this opportunity could be realized only if the entire industry and all its verticals and stakeholders come together to ideate and synergize. He appreciated the industry for keeping the citizens of the country informed, connected, engaged and entertained during the trying times of the pandemic through credible, quality content.

Commerce and Industry Minister also opined that the media and entertainment industry is a sunrise sector. He noted that the industry was indeed growing at a fast pace but called for efforts to achieve larger outcomes. He pointed out that India in itself was a huge market for the media and entertainment industry, but noted that ‘we has a long way to go to reach the inflection point.’ He called for out of box ideas from the industry to expand the ecosystem and to bring in economies of scale.

Besides, Piyush Goyal said that the entertainment industry has great potential for employment generation and called for more skill development and educational courses. He also dwelled upon the need to ensure fair wages, social security, healthcare etc. to those who work in the sector to make them an integral part of the success story of this sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18219.85, down by 124.05 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 18209.80 and 18394.60. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The only gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.31%, SBI up by 0.16% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.02%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.12%, Indusind Bank down by 2.07%, Tata Consumer down by 1.99%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.91% and ONGC down by 1.82% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 53.12 points or 0.29% to 17,992.54, Nikkei 225 slipped 30.80 points or 0.11% to 27,899.77, Taiwan Weighted dropped 30.24 points or 0.21% to 14,504.99, Shanghai Composite declined 18.19 points or 0.58% to 3,097.24 and Straits Times was down 15.75 points or 0.48% to 3,270.29. On the flip side, KOSPI rose 1.58 points or 0.06% to 2,444.48 and Jakarta Composite was up by 37.19 points or 0.53% to 7,082.18.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.09 points or 0.3% to 7,368.63, France’s CAC increased 32.42 points or 0.49% to 6,608.54 and Germany’s DAX was up by 53.84 points or 0.38% to 14,320.22.