Bourses trim some losses in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in late afternoon session but continued to trade lower on the account of selling in Banking and metal stocks. Traders were cautious ahead of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data, which would be announced later in a day. Besides, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its ‘July 2023 round of its bi-monthly consumer confidence survey (CCS)’ stated that after persistent recovery for almost two years, consumer confidence for current period, as reflected in the current situation index (CSI), stood a shade lower than that witnessed in the previous survey round; improvement in respondents’ sentiment on income and spending was offset by somewhat higher pessimism on general economic and employment situation. 

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading in red as growing concerns over China's economy as well as worsening relations between the U.S. and China overshadowed hopes for Fed rate pause. European markets were trading lower after a Wall Street rally fuelled by tame inflation data fizzled out, while UBS shares jumped after the Swiss lender ended a state guarantee that was granted for its takeover of Credit Suisse.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65512.12, down by 176.06 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 65329.48 and 65727.80. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.14%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.70%, PSU up by 0.45%, Capital Goods up by 0.43%, Industrials up by 0.40% and Telecom was up by 0.27%, while Healthcare down by 0.95%, FMCG down by 0.79%, Bankex down by 0.42%, Metal down by 0.35% and Auto was down by 0.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech up by 3.60%, Titan Company up by 1.85%, Power Grid up by 1.28%, Tata Steel up by 0.83% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.98%, NTPC down by 1.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27%, Asian Paints down by 1.24% and JSW Steel down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its ‘July 2023 round of its bi-monthly consumer confidence survey (CCS)’ has stated that after persistent recovery for almost two years, consumer confidence for current period, as reflected in the current situation index (CSI), stood a shade lower than that witnessed in the previous survey round; improvement in respondents’ sentiment on income and spending was offset by somewhat higher pessimism on general economic and employment situation. 

The latest round of the survey was conducted during July 1-10, 2023, covering 6,047 respondents. Female respondents accounted for 50.2 per cent of this sample. The survey further noted that going forward, households expect improvement in general economic, employment and income conditions; they turned less pessimistic on one year ahead price situation vis-a-vis May 2023 round of the survey. 

The future expectation index (FEI) remained in optimistic terrain and recorded a marginal rise in the latest survey round. As per the report, sentiments on current income improved further and moved to optimistic zone for the first time in four years; future earnings expectations remain buoyant.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19477.25, down by 65.85 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 19434.70 and 19557.75. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 3.63%, Titan Company up by 1.90%, Power Grid up by 1.43%, Tata Steel up by 0.83% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.01%, SBI Life down by 1.99%, NTPC down by 1.70%, Divi's Lab down by 1.55% and Asian Paints down by 1.40% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red, Hang Seng declined 173.07 points or 0.91% to 19,075.19, Shanghai Composite weakened 65.31 points or 2.05% to 3,189.25, Taiwan Weighted lost 33.45 points or 0.2% to 16,601.25, Straits Times fell 31.07 points or 0.94% to 3,291.86, Jakarta Composite plunged 13.28 points or 0.19% to 6,880.00 and KOSPI was down by 10.3 points or 0.4% to 2,591.26. 

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 77.43 points or 1.02% to 7,541.17, France’s CAC fell 70.66 points or 0.95% to 7,362.96 and Germany’s DAX was down by 110.76 points or 0.69% to 15,885.76.