Bourses trade near day’s lowest points in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks magnified their losses in late afternoon session, hovering near the lowest points of the day on account of selling in Utilities, Oil & Gas and PSU sectors’ stocks. Globally, traders were worried with rising Covid-19 cases in Japan, China and the US. Traders took note of report that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the country in view of a sudden spurt in cases in some parts of the world, and directed officials to be alert and strengthen surveillance. In view of the rise in cases in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China the Union Health Ministry urged all states and Union territories to ramp up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples of Covid to keep track of emerging variants. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as recession worries persisted, and China continued to grapple with a surge in the number of new COVID-19 cases. European markets were trading higher reversing a negative trend seen in the previous trading session.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61034.63, down by 667.66 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 60938.38 and 62006.46. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.35%, while Small cap index was down by 2.09%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.98%, IT up by 0.29% and TECK was up by 0.05%, while Utilities down by 2.21%, Oil & Gas down by 2.14%, PSU down by 2.14%, Telecom down by 2.13% and Power was down by 2.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.69%, Nestle up by 1.04%, HCL Tech up by 0.87%, TCS up by 0.78% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.47%, ICICI Bank down by 2.10%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.06% and HDFC down by 1.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1293606 new jobs in the month of October 2022.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 4421 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 241696 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 322160, 189103, 281339 and 254887 new payrolls, respectively in October.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18191.75, down by 193.55 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 18162.75 and 18473.35. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 4.68%, Cipla up by 3.46%, Apollo Hospital up by 3.18%, Sun Pharma up by 1.74% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 6.23%, Adani Ports down by 2.98%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.30%, Indusind Bank down by 2.28% and Britannia down by 2.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 65.69 points or 0.34% to 19,160.49, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 64.37 points or 0.45% to 14,234.40, Jakarta Composite soared 52.34 points or 0.77% to 6,820.66 and Straits Times was up by 6.74 points or 0.21% to 3,260.71. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 4.34 points or 0.19% to 2,328.95, Shanghai Composite declined 5.36 points or 0.17% to 3,068.41 and Nikkei 225 was down by 180.31 points or 0.68% to 26,387.72.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 17.05 points or 0.23% to 7,387.67, France’s CAC increased 36.44 points or 0.56% to 6,486.87 and Germany’s DAX was up by 74.15 points or 0.53% to 13,958.81.