Markets remain flat in late morning deals

Indian equity markets continued to trade flat with negative bias in late morning deals owing to profit booking after recent rallies. Selling in HDFC twins and Bajaj Finance restricted markets to go up. Weak cues from other Asian markets weighed on the domestic sentiments. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 12 paise to 82.13 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market on account of increased demand for the American currency from importers and banks. Besides, cautiousness too prevailed in the markets as the growth in India's services sector declined in June owing to inflation. The headline figure in the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey by credit rating agency S&P Global declined to 58.5 in June from 61.2 in May. This is the lowest level since April when it was 62.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as investors digest the release of private surveys on services activity from the region. Services activity in Japan and China remained in expansion territory for the month while the pace of growth softened. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in FMCG, Oil & Gas, PSU, Power and Utilities, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Consumer Durables, Bankex and Telecom.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65424.13, down by 54.92 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 65317.91 and 65584.33. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.44%, while Small cap index up by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.51%, Oil & Gas up by 0.81%, PSU up by 0.71%, Power up by 0.69% and Utilities up by 0.66%, while Realty down by 0.58%, Consumer Durables down by 0.28%, Bankex down by 0.25% and Telecom down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.49%, Indusind Bank up by 2.17%, ICICI Bank up by 1.96%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.26% and Power Grid up by 1.18%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.00%, HDFC down by 2.94%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.65%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.60% and Axis Bank down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that the government intends to double the turnover of the automobile industry to Rs 15 lakh crore. At present, the turnover of the automobile industry is Rs 7.55 lakh crore, and four and a half crore have got jobs in the sector. This industry gives maximum GST to the government. He also said the industry will generate 10 crore jobs. 

Gadkari stated that India has beaten Japan in automobile manufacturing and has come in number 3 position globally after China and the US. Laying emphasis on the importance of education, he said, ‘Knowledge is a great power, and converting knowledge into wealth is our future’. 

The minister further said that farmers today are not only food providers but also energy providers by producing ethanol and solar electricity. From auto rickshaws to cars, vehicles will run on ethanol and India's import will reduce and farmers will prosper. He added that in the last nine years, the government has taken several steps to make progress.  

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19383.25, down by 5.75 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 19344.70 and 19421.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.53%, ITC up by 2.44%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.36%, Divi's Lab up by 2.35% and Indusind Bank up by 2.13%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.00%, HDFC Bank down by 2.96%, Tata Consumer down by 1.38%, Adani Ports down by 0.90% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 104.97 points or 0.61% to 17,035.80, Hang Seng declined 264.54 points or 1.36% to 19,151.14, Shanghai Composite weakened 17.1 points or 0.53% to 3,228.25, KOSPI dropped 11.83 points or 0.46% to 2,581.48, Straits Times fell 14.16 points or 0.44% to 3,189.61 and Nikkei 225 slipped 115.99 points or 0.35% to 33,306.53. However, Jakarta Composite gained 23.59 points or 0.35% to 6,705.34.