Bourses widen losses in late afternoon session

In a volatile trading session, Indian equity markets widened their losses in late afternoon session amid negative cues from global markets. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading with small losses. Mounting global growth concerns prompted investors to exit risky assets. Besides, Fed officials signaled that they would push on with more interest rate hikes, hurting prices of stocks and bonds. Traders were cautious ahead to minutes of the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting is due later in the day. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid lingering uncertainties about the outlook for the global economy. Disappointing U.S. data released overnight and hawkish Fed comments added to the downbeat sentiment. European markets were trading lower as weak U.S. economic data and hawkish Fed comments reinforced market concerns about an imminent U.S. recession.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60,847.77, down by 197.97 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 60716.55 and 61032.47. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was declined 0.08%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.56%, Energy up by 0.52%, PSU up by 0.34% and IT was up by 0.20%, while Utilities down by 1.35%, Power down by 1.13%, Consumer Durables down by 1.02%, FMCG down by 1.02%, Telecom down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.14%, HDFC Bank up by 0.56%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.54%, Axis Bank up by 0.53% and HDFC up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.39%, Indusind Bank down by 2.28%, Asian Paints down by 1.47%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.39% and Titan Co down by 1.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in line with this year’s WEF theme, ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’, India has reiterated its position as a resilient economy with a strong leadership providing stable policy to the global investors at the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos. India’s focus areas at WEF this year are investment opportunities, infrastructural landscape and its inclusive & sustainable growth story.

As per the notification released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, taking forward the strategy and presence of India during WEF Annual Meeting in May 2022, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has taken the initiative to further strengthen India’s presence through three lounges with focus on investment opportunity, sustainability and inclusive approach to compliment economic growth.

In addition, the presence of State lounges of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana along with business lounges of HCL, Wipro, Infosys and TCS have added strength to India’s presence on the Davos promenade. The entire India contingent of the central government, state government, businesses and officials have put together a common front to present India at the global state.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18,099.55, down by 65.80 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 18063.75 and 18155.20. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.34%, UPL up by 1.90%, ONGC up by 1.68%, SBI Life Insuran up by 1.09% and Tata Steel up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 4.16%, Indusind Bank down by 2.51%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.46%, Asian Paints down by 1.88% and Adani Ports down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite gained 54.12 points or 0.79% to 6,819.91, Shanghai Composite strengthened 15.87 points or 0.49% to 3,240.28 and KOSPI was up by12.02 points or 0.5% to 2,380.34. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 11.57 points or 0.35% to 3,277.98, Hang Seng declined 27.02 points or 0.12% to 21,650.98 and Nikkei 225 was down by 385.89 points or 1.46% to 26,405.23.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 35.27 points or 0.45% to 7,795.43, France’s CAC fell 31.52 points or 0.44% to 7,051.87 and Germany’s DAX was down by 73.74 points or 0.49% to 15,108.06.