Bourses trim most of losses in late afternoon session

The domestic markets continued to join global markets weakness but pared some of their losses in late afternoon session. SBI and Bharti Airtel were the prime gainers among heavy-weights, mainly helped markets to some cut losses. Rupee traded flat against dollar in late afternoon session. Some support came in with report stated that free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Australia, which comes into effect from December 29, 2022, will help boost bilateral trade in goods and services to cross $70 billion in the next five years. In scrip specific development, KFin Technologies has debuted at Rs 369.00 on the BSE, up by 3 points or 0.82% from its issue price of Rs 366. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as the Covid surge in China cast a shadow over markets across the region. European markets were trading lower as the market neared the end of a rough year where it struggled with geopolitical tensions and growing fears of an economic slowdown due to aggressive rate hikes by central banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60783.50, down by 126.78 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 60479.06 and 60859.54. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.65%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.16%, Bankex up by 0.09%, Telecom up by 0.08% and PSU was up by 0.04%, while Power down by 0.88%, Utilities down by 0.83%, Realty down by 0.80%, Consumer Durables down by 0.76% and FMCG was down by 0.66% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.16%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.88%, HCL Tech up by 0.67%, Tata Steel up by 0.50% and Indusind Bank up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.74%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.42%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.24%, Titan Company down by 1.23% and Nestle down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, various export promotion councils (EPCs) has lauded the trade agreements signed by India with the UAE and Australia, saying the pacts will help the country in boosting exports by granting preferential access to those markets for Indian products. Engineering Exports Promotion Council (EEPC) said that the country has benefited from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 per cent of its tariff lines which account for 99 per cent of Indian exports to the region in value terms.

Eastern regional chairman of EEPC, B D Agarwal, said that this trend has emerged after signing of the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which became effective from May one, 2022. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which will come into force from December 29, is expected to create 10 lakh jobs, and raise Indian merchandise exports to Australia by $10 billion. According to him, the ECTA will also allow zero duty on 100 per cent tariff lines, and provide cheaper raw materials to steel and aluminium sectors. The trade pact will also raise the bilateral trade volume to $45-50 billion in five years.

Pankaj Parekh, regional chairman, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said the ECTA will double India's gem and jewellery exports to Australia, from its current $350 million to $800 million in three years. Post the India-UAE CEPA in May, gems and jewellery exports to the region witnessed an overall export growth of 20 per cent to the region.

Regional chairman of Plastics Export Promotion Council (PLEXCONCIL) Lalit Agarwal has said that the export potential for plastics from India stands at $5 billion to the UAE and $6 billion to Australia. Under the India-UAE CEPA, import duty applicable in the UAE on 260 plastic products has been reduced from 5 per cent to zero with immediate effect. Under the India-Australia ECTA, import duty applicable in Australia has been reduced on all the tariff lines for plastic products with immediate effect which would act as a great booster for the outbound shipments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18078.25, down by 44.25 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 17992.80 and 18097.50. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 1.21%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.89%, ONGC up by 0.80%, HCL Tech up by 0.54% and Indusind Bank up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.69%, Britannia down by 1.65%, Tata Consumer down by 1.65%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.63% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 246.83 points or 0.94% to 26,093.67, Hang Seng decreased 157.77 points or 0.79% to 19,741.14, Taiwan Weighted dropped 88.08 points or 0.62% to 14,085.02, KOSPI fell 44.05 points or 1.93% to 2,236.40, Straits Times trembled 24.26 points or 0.74% to 3,242.71 and Shanghai Composite was down by 13.70 points or 0.44% to 3,073.70. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 9.56 points or 0.14% to 6,860.08.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 44.11 points or 0.59% to 7,453.08, France’s CAC decreased 28.84 points or 0.44% to 6,481.65 and Germany’s DAX was down by 33.33 points or 0.24% to 13,892.27.