Domestic indices magnify losses in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices magnified their losses and were trading with cut of over one percent in late morning deals on account of profit bookings after recent gains. Both the Sensex and the Nifty traded below their psychological 66,800 and 18,800 levels respectively. Hectic selling in Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever pressured markets to expand their losses. Muted cues from global markets also weighed on the domestic sentiments. Further, a depreciating rupee, which slipped 10 paise to trade at 82.03 against the US dollar, made traders more nervous. Traders ignored report that Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Japan is keen to make investments of around 5 trillion Japanese yen in India across various sectors including steel.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the mostly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. Back home, traders were seen pilling up position in Capital Goods, Industrials, PSU, Realty and Telecom, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK, Consumer Durables, Metal and Energy. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66777.41, down by 794.49 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 66755.66 and 67190.52. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.14%, while Small cap index up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.18%, Industrials up by 0.97%, PSU up by 0.58%, Realty up by 0.28% and Telecom up by 0.04%, while IT down by 3.99%, TECK down by 3.53%, Consumer Durables down by 0.76%, Metal down by 0.73% and Energy down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.73%, SBI up by 1.34%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.51%, ITC up by 0.46% and Nestle up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 7.78%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.28%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.83%, Wipro down by 2.71% and Reliance Industries down by 2.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that Japan is keen to make investments of around 5 trillion Japanese yen in India across various sectors including steel. The steel minister made the remarks after a meeting with a Japanese delegation led by NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, in the national capital.

Scindia  stated ‘We had a very detailed discussion...about the common strategies that we can develop in terms of the path forward, exchange of best practices, exchange of new technologies, Japanese investment in India which would be close to 5 trillion yen...over the next few years not only in the steel sector but other sectors as well.’

He said the meeting was very positive. It will provide many areas and platforms where India and Japan will work closely together with regards to the steel sector. He added the delegation discussed tremendous growth prospects in India in the steel sector which is to grow to 300 million tonne (MT) capacity by 2030 from 160 MT at present.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19773.90, down by 205.25 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 19763.10 and 19887.40. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.99%, Divi's Lab up by 1.36%, SBI up by 1.32%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.12% and ONGC up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 7.73%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.33%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.89%, HCL Tech down by 2.76% and Reliance Industries down by 2.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 134.19 points or 0.78% to 17,030.70, Shanghai Composite weakened 10.83 points or 0.34% to 3,158.69, Jakarta Composite plunged 20.38 points or 0.3% to 6,843.81, Straits Times fell 3.06 points or 0.09% to 3,271.32 and Nikkei 225 slipped 184.01 points or 0.57% to 32,306.51. However, Hang Seng advanced 42.22 points or 0.22% to 18,970.24 and KOSPI increased 6.64 points or 0.26% to 2,606.87.