Sustained selling keeps Indian markets lower in early noon deals

A sustained selling kept Indian equity benchmarks lower in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty falling 0.53% and 0.43% respectively, impacted by negative cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained pessimistic, amid a private report stating that India's retail inflation likely accelerated to 6.40% in July on surging food prices, breaching the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India's 2%-6% tolerance band for the first time in five months. Food prices, which account for nearly half of the inflation basket, have soared in the last two months largely due to an erratic monsoon throughout the country, pushing tomato prices at wholesale markets up more than 1,400% in the past three months. Besides, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed concerns over mis-pricing, under-invoicing and imposition of non-tariff barriers by certain countries as it impacts international trade.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after consumer prices in China were down 0.3 percent on year in July. That exceeded expectations for a decline of 0.4 percent following the flat annual reading in June. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2 percent - again beating forecasts for 0.1 percent following the 0.2 percent decline in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65497.57, down by 348.93 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 65444.38 and 65810.96. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.56%, Telecom up by 0.51%, Metal up by 0.47%, Healthcare up by 0.28% and Industrials up by 0.27%, while Realty down by 1.27%, Bankex down by 0.82%, FMCG down by 0.30%, Power down by 0.14% and IT down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.50%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.05%, JSW Steel up by 1.02% and NTPC up by 0.37%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.16%, HDFC Bank down by 1.07%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.97%, Asian Paints down by 0.87% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has expressed concerns over mis-pricing, under-invoicing and imposition of non-tariff barriers by certain countries as it impacts international trade. He stressed upon building trust among each other and expressed strong belief in small, achievable, incremental steps towards WTO (World Trade Organisation) reform. These issues were flagged by Minister during the 13th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting. BRICS is a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Goyal said collective efforts of all the member countries are required to work in a trust-based open atmosphere through transparency and sharing information. He made it clear that unless trade and investment activities are carried out cooperatively in a transparent manner, it would not yield the desired results.

On supply chains, he said that trust and transparency are important factors for resilient and robust supply chains. On digital economy, he expressed deep concerns over deprivation of the access to virtual platforms, tele-medicine, distance education and e-payme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19486.30, down by 84.55 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 19467.50 and 19581.80. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr Reddy's Laboratories up by 3.78%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.87%, Coal India up by 1.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.49% and UPL up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Divi's Laboratories down by 3.00%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.07%, ICICI Bank down by 1.06%, HDFC Bank down by 1.02% and Apollo Hospital down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 172.96 points or 0.54% to 32,204.33, Hang Seng declined 43.92 points or 0.23% to 19,140.25, Shanghai Composite weakened 18.5 points or 0.57% to 3,242.12 and Taiwan Weighted lost 6.13 points or 0.04% to 16,870.94, while Jakarta Composite gained 12.58 points or 0.18% to 6,881.39 and KOSPI increased 31.14 points or 1.2% to 2,605.12.