Bourses trade near neutral lines with negative bias in late afternoon session

In volatile trading session, Key benchmark indices traded near neutral lines with negative bias in late afternoon session. Weakness in select Banking shares dragged key gauges lower, while buying in IT and metal stocks helped markets to trade near neutral lines. Traders avoided to take long position in the markets as India's manufacturing sector activity slowed down in the month of July but remained above the neutral level of 50.0, amid ongoing buoyant demand and muted cost inflationary pressures. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 57.7 in July from 57.8 in June. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors struggled to maintain early gains fanned by hopes the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike campaign has run its course. European markets were trading lower as investors digested a busy week of earnings after logging a winning month in July. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66483.54, down by 44.13 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 66388.26 and 66658.12. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.50%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.14%, TECK up by 0.86%, Metal up by 0.83%, Telecom up by 0.28% and Energy was up by 0.10%, while Realty down by 1.87%, Bankex down by 0.43%, Power down by 0.39%, PSU down by 0.32% and Capital Goods was down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 3.12%, NTPC up by 2.77%, HCL Tech up by 1.43%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12% and TCS up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 5.26%, Indusind Bank down by 1.75%, SBI down by 1.40%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.37% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India's manufacturing sector activity slowed down in the month of July but remained above the neutral level of 50.0, amid ongoing buoyant demand and muted cost inflationary pressures. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 57.7 in July from 57.8 in June. The report noted that with new orders up sharply again, manufacturers expanded production accordingly. Output has increased continuously on a monthly basis since July 2021. The latest rise was substantial, albeit the softest in three months.

As per the report, firms responded to greater workloads by taking on extra staff. The solid pace of job creation was broadly in line with those seen in May and June. This expansion in capacity was not sufficient to prevent a further build-up in backlogs of work, however, given the strength of the rise in new orders. Outstanding business increased for the nineteenth successive month, albeit only slightly. Stocks of purchases also rose rapidly as companies expressed a desire to build inventories given the buoyant demand environment.

On the inflation front, the rate of input cost inflation accelerated to a nine-month high in July, but remained softer than the series average. Input prices increased, amid higher costs for raw materials, in particular cotton. These higher prices for raw materials plus rising labour costs led firms to increase their selling prices. The rate of inflation was solid, but eased to a three-month low. Firms generally expect demand to remain elevated over the coming year, supporting projections for growth of production.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19741.35, down by 12.45 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 19704.60 and 19795.60. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.22%, NTPC up by 2.84%, LTIMindtree up by 1.99% and HCL Tech up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 5.28%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.69%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.59%, Indusind Bank down by 1.78% and SBI down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng declined 67.82 points or 0.34% to 20,011.12, Jakarta Composite plunged 37.15 points or 0.54% to 6,894.21, Straits Times fell 1.61 points or 0.05% to 3,372.37 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.09 points or 0% to 3,290.95. On the flip side, KOSPI increased 34.49 points or 1.29% to 2,667.07, Taiwan Weighted added 67.44 points or 0.39% to 17,212.87 and Nikkei 225 was up by 304.36 points or 0.91% to 33,476.58.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.54 points or 0.16% to 7,686.87, France’s CAC fell 54.21 points or 0.73% to 7,443.57 and Germany’s DAX was down by 129.04 points or 0.79% to 16,317.79.