Bourses continue to trade lower in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in negative territory in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Auto, Realty and Energy sectors, while selling was witnessed in Power, Bankex and Utilities sectors’ stocks. Traders overlooked Moody’s statement that recession is unlikely in the APAC region in the coming year, although the area will face headwinds from higher interest rates and slower global trade growth. Moody’s said India is headed for slower growth next year more in line with its long-term potential. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid concerns over record-high domestic daily COVID-19 cases in China. European markets were trading mostly in green even though retail companies under pressure as the holiday shopping season kicked off amid worries of a sharply slowing global economy and sky-high inflation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62176.42, down by 96.26 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 62115.66 and 62447.73. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.63%, while Small cap index was up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.09%, Realty up by 0.62%, Energy up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.47% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.45%, while Power down by 0.68%, Bankex down by 0.55%, Utilities down by 0.43% and FMCG was down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.06%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.75%, Axis Bank up by 0.67% and Wipro up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.41%, Nestle down by 1.25%, ICICI Bank down by 1.07%, HDFC down by 0.74% and HCL Tech down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have decided to pursue resumption of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Negotiations. With forward-looking and solution-oriented deliberations, bilateral engagements witnessed significant progress on all matters of mutual interest across the entire gamut of bilateral economic relations between India and the GCC nations.

Both sides agreed to expedite conclusion of the requisite legal and technical requirements for formal resumption of the FTA negotiations. The FTA is envisaged to be a modern, comprehensive Agreement with substantial coverage of goods and services. Both sides emphasized that the FTA will create new jobs, raise living standards, and provide wider social and economic opportunities in India and all the GCC countries. Both sides agreed to significantly expand and diversify the trade basket in line with the enormous potential that exists on account of the complementary business and economic ecosystems of India and the GCC.

Meanwhile, the GCC is currently India’s largest trading partner bloc with bilateral trade in FY 2021-22 valued at over $154 billion with exports valued at approximately $44 billion and imports of around $110 billion (non-oil exports of $33.8 Billion and non-oil imports of $37.2 Billion). Bilateral trade in services between India and the GCC was valued at around $14 billion in FY 2021-22, with exports valued at $5.5 Billion and imports at $8.3 Billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18468.60, down by 15.50 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 18445.10 and 18533.15. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.50%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.81%, Reliance Industries up by 1.20%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.19% and Coal India up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 1.48%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.24%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.21%, Nestle down by 1.09% and ICICI Bank down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 100.06 points or 0.35% to 28,283.03, Hang Seng decreased 87.32 points or 0.49% to 17,573.58, Jakarta Composite lost 27.37 points or 0.39% to 7,053.15, Straits Times trembled 8.04 points or 0.25% to 3,244.84, Taiwan Weighted dropped 5.49 points or 0.04% to 14,778.51 and KOSPI was down by 3.47 points or 0.14% to 2,437.86. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 12.38 points or 0.4% to 3,101.69.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.29 points or 0.12% to 7,475.89 and France’s CAC was up by 2.77 points or 0.04% to 6,710.09. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by 6.73 points or 0.05% to 14,532.83.