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

Indian markets traded near day’s lowest points in late afternoon session dragged by IT and metal stocks. As for broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index traded slightly in green, while Small cap index traded in red. Traders took note of Additional Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) S C Aggarwal’s statement that a robust and easy trade finance ecosystem is important for India to achieve the $2 trillion exports target by 2030. He stated Easy availability of affordable trade finance helps promote export competitiveness. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates after report showing initial jobless claims in the U.S. increased by much more than expected last week. European markets were trading lower ahead of interest rate decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 62616.21, down by 232.43 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 62610.14 and 62992.16. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.03%, while Small cap index was down by 0.10%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.96%, Industrials up by 0.69%, Telecom up by 0.38% and Power was up by 0.12%, while FMCG down by 0.85%, TECK down by 0.79%, IT down by 0.70%, Metal down by 0.61% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.12%, Axis Bank up by 1.37%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.81%, Power Grid up by 0.79% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.94%, SBI down by 1.92%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.87%, Infosys down by 1.45% and Asian Paints down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the direction of realizing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sahkar Se Samridhi’, the Government of India has taken important decisions which will increase the income of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, as well as increase the employment opportunities in rural areas and farmers will be able to get fertilizers, pesticides, seeds and agricultural machinery at the local level.

As per the notification released by Ministry of Cooperation, there are about 1 lakh Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies present across the country. On the basis of mapping, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) which are not functioning as fertilizer retailers will be identified and they will be encouraged to function as retailers on the basis of feasibility in a phased manner. It further noted that PACS which are not currently functioning as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras (PMKSK) will be brought under the ambit of PMKSK.

PACS will be connected with the marketing of organic fertilizers, especially Fermented Organic Manure (FoM) / Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM) / Phosphate Rich Organic Manure (PROM). Besides, Under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme of Department of Fertilizers, fertilizer companies will act as an aggregator for small bio-organic producers to market the end product, in this supply and marketing chain of bio-organic fertilizers PACS will also be included as wholesalers/retailers. The notification further stated that PACS can also be employed as Drone entrepreneurs for spraying fertilizers and pesticides. Drones can also be used for survey of property.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18565.15, down by 69.40 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 18555.40 and 18676.65. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.14%, Axis Bank up by 1.44%, Power Grid up by 0.93%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.88% and Adani Enterprises up by 0.61%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.69%, Tata Steel down by 2.02%, Eicher Motors down by 1.98%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.97% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 623.9 points or 1.93% to 32,265.17, Taiwan Weighted added 152.71 points or 0.9% to 16,886.40, Hang Seng advanced 90.77 points or 0.47% to 19,389.95, Jakarta Composite gained 31.39 points or 0.47% to 6,697.72, KOSPI increased 30.31 points or 1.15% to 2,641.16 and Shanghai Composite was up by 17.82 points or 0.55% to 3,231.41. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 1.41 points or 0.04% to 3,185.20. 

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 6.68 points or 0.09% to 7,593.06, France’s CAC fell 6.89 points or 0.1% to 7,215.26 and Germany’s DAX was down by 29.57 points or 0.19% to 15,960.39.