Bourses continue lackadaisical trade in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks continued their lackadaisical trade in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index remained higher. Traders were worried after private report stated that Vegetable prices in India are set to stay higher for longer, as erratic monsoon rains delayed planting and damaged ripening crops. Vegetables prices, which have a 6% weighting in the overall consumer price index (CPI), hit a seven-month high in June, rising 12% month-on-month.  On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors digested monetary policy steps from Japan and inflation data on both sides of the Atlantic in the hope of more evidence to persuade central banks to end their rate hiking cycle. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors processed a week of earnings and central bank decisions. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65962.99, down by 303.83 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 65878.65 and 66351.22. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.32%, Power up by 2.32%, Realty up by 1.80%, FMCG up by 0.66% and PSU was up by 0.48%, while TECK down by 0.70%, IT down by 0.68%, Bankex down by 0.62%, Oil & Gas down by 0.37% and Telecom was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.42%, Power Grid up by 2.67%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47%, JSW Steel up by 1.32% and Reliance Industries up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.82%, Tata Motors down by 1.76%, HDFC Bank down by 1.48%, TCS down by 1.42% and Axis Bank down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stressing need to focus on green growth and reduction in carbon intensity, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India is all set to become energy independent by 2047 and achieving net zero by 2070. 

Sitharaman further said that the Indian chemical and petrochemicals sector has huge potential and it also impacts other sectors of the economy. The importance of the sector can be gauged from the fact that it deals with more than 80,000 chemicals products which involves sectors like Agriculture, Infrastructure, Textiles, Pharma, Packaging, etc.

Finance Minister noted that the combined exports of major chemicals and petrochemicals in 2022-23 was $9 billion but imports also increased to $13.33 billion. Many of these imports included items which can be produced in India itself and the Government is putting all out efforts in this direction as well.

The minister also brought attention towards the market of Specialty chemicals which is growing exponentially at 12% CAGR. Thus, she said there is need for more robust support for specialized chemicals. The emergence of this market is driven by country’s strong process engineering capabilities, low-cost manufacturing capabilities and abundant manpower.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19586.95, down by 72.95 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 19563.10 and 19695.90. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 3.32%, Power Grid up by 2.65%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.69%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.64% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.95%, BPCL down by 1.54%, HDFC Bank down by 1.49%, TCS down by 1.46% and Tata Motors down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 277.45 points or 1.39% to 19,916.56, Shanghai Composite strengthened 59.26 points or 1.81% to 3,275.93, Taiwan Weighted added 51.11 points or 0.3% to 17,292.93, Straits Times rose 29.7 points or 0.89% to 3,367.12 and KOSPI was up by 4.51 points or 0.17% to 2,608.32. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 13.13 points or 0.19% to 6,883.53 and Nikkei 225 was down by 131.93 points or 0.4% to 32,759.23.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC fell 36.46 points or 0.49% to 7,428.78 and Germany’s DAX was down by 43.52 points or 0.27% to 16,362.51. On the other hands, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 18.88 points or 0.25% to 7,711.64.