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

Indian markets widened their losses in late afternoon session, hovering near the lowest points of the day on account of selling in frontline counters. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index continued to trade in green. Heavy selling pressure in banking and oil & gas stocks forced the markets to trade near lows. Traders overlooked Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s statement that India is on track to becoming a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain in the next decade with $10 billion of incentives and assistance provided to encourage local chip manufacturing. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after the U.S. Federal Reserve reiterated its fight against inflation and Chair Jerome Powell said staff economists at the central bank no longer foresee a recession. European markets were trading higher as traders reacted to a busy morning of earnings reports and awaited the European Central Bank's policy decision after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked interest rates as expected.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66315.13, down by 392.07 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 66306.14 and 66984.17. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.59%, Realty up by 1.91%, Telecom up by 0.63%, Capital Goods up by 0.34% and Industrials was up by 0.33%, while Auto down by 1.35%, Oil & Gas down by 1.07%, Energy down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.80% and FMCG was down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.52%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.55%, Infosys up by 0.35% and Power Grid up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.96%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.89%, Nestle down by 2.34%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.63% and Axis Bank down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ministry of Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah has said that India’s technical textile market is expected to double in the next five years, adding that the technical textile segment in India has in recent years shown robust growth, both internationally and in the domestic market. She said the market size is around $22 billion within India and the goal of the government is to take it to $40-50 billion over the next 5 years.

Shah also noted that the global technical textiles market is around $260 billion and is expected to increase to $325 billion by 2025-26. On India's export of such textiles, Shah said the export of technical textile presently is $2.5 billion, and the government's objective is to enhance it to $10 billion. 

Shah further said that the government is working in the technical textiles sector with a multi-pronged approach with a focus on R&D activities in the technical textile sector including in fibre and in the development of its various applications. The focus is also on developing a skilling eco-system and skilled manpower for the sector.

Secretary also stated that the ministry is working closely with various inter-ministries and departments within the government and state governments to increase the demand and penetration of technical textiles. She added that one of the critical elements of the approach is focusing on standards and regulations for technical textiles as these are highly specialized products with high-performance requirements.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19681.80, down by 96.50 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 19679.10 and 19867.55. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remain unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 9.85%, Sun Pharma up by 2.50%, Divi's Lab up by 1.94%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.15% and Apollo Hospital up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.96%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.82%, Nestle down by 2.35%, Britannia down by 2.35% and Tata Consumer down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 273.97 points or 1.4% to 19,639.11, Nikkei 225 surged 222.82 points or 0.68% to 32,891.16, Taiwan Weighted added 79.27 points or 0.46% to 17,241.82, Straits Times rose 31.74 points or 0.96% to 3,336.70 and KOSPI was up by11.45 points or 0.44% to 2,603.81. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.36 points or 0.2% to 3,216.67 and Jakarta Composite was down by 40.92 points or 0.59% to 6,907.36.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.1 points or 0.29% to 7,698.99, France’s CAC rose 102.52 points or 1.4% to 7,417.59 and Germany’s DAX was up by 136.07 points or 0.84% to 16,267.53.