Markets magnify losses in late morning deals

Indian equity markets magnified their losses in late morning deals on account of profit booking following recent rally. Sentiments remained bearish as weak cures from global markets amid investors awaited the release of U.S. unemployment data later in the day for additional cues on Fed's next policy steps. Traders also were concerned as data by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed that the country's unemployment rate rose to a three-month high at 8 per cent during November. The unemployment rate in urban India was higher at 8.96 per cent, while in rural areas, it was at 7.55 per cent. There was some buzz in Oil and gas industry related stocks as the government reduced the windfall tax on crude oil and the export tax on diesel.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red as traders largely cautious and refrained from making significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched US monthly jobs data later in the day, which could affect the outlook for interest rates. Back home, in stock specific development, Yes Bank jumped after it received conditional approval from RBI for a planned stake sale to global PE funds.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62839.28, down by 444.91 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 62828.75 and 63148.59. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index up by 0.46%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 0.44%, Realty up by 0.37%, Metal up by 0.27%, Oil & Gas up by 0.25% and Industrials up by 0.19%, while Auto down by 1.18%, Power down by 1.09%, Utilities down by 0.96%, TECK down by 0.78% and IT down by 0.64% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 0.47%, Tata Steel up by 0.45%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.29% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.14%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.27%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.54%, TCS down by 1.44%, Asian Paints down by 1.22% and Nestle down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its latest data has indicated that the country's unemployment rate rose to a three-month high at 8 per cent during November 2022. The unemployment rate in urban India was higher at 8.96 per cent, while in rural areas, it was at 7.55 per cent.

In October this year, the urban joblessness was at 7.21 per cent and the rural unemployment rate was at 8.04 per cent. Among the states, Haryana continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the country in November at 30.6 per cent, followed by Rajasthan at 24.5 per cent, Jammu and Kashmir at 23.9 per cent, Bihar at 17.3 per cent and Tripura at 14.5 per cent.

The states that witnessed the least unemployment rate in the previous month are Chhattisgarh at 0.1 per cent, Uttarakhand at 1.2 per cent, Odisha at 1.6 per cent, Karnataka at 1.8 per cent and Meghalaya at 2.1 per cent. India's unemployment rate in October was at 7.77 per cent, while in September it was at a low of 6.43 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18684.40, down by 128.10 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 18680.10 and 18781.95. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.36%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.20%, Grasim Industries up by 1.11%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.53% and Tata Steel up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.30%, Cipla down by 2.04%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.69% and Divi's Lab down by 1.65% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 472.56 points or 1.67% to 27,753.52, Taiwan Weighted dropped 42.12 points or 0.28% to 14,970.68, Straits Times trembled 26.31 points or 0.8% to 3,266.42, Shanghai Composite declined 11.44 points or 0.36% to 3,154.03, KOSPI fell 40.55 points or 1.64% to 2,439.29, Jakarta Composite lost 32.58 points or 0.46% to 6,988.22 and Hang Seng decreased 121.80 points or 0.65% to 18,614.64.