Weak trade continues over Dalal Street in early noon deals

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early noon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets along with selling at Metal and Realty counters. Some worries came after the Indian rupee on August 14 slipped below the 83 mark against the dollar for the first time in 10 months, tracking losses in the global equities and currencies market as a jump in US yields piled pressure. Traders took note of report that India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) deflated for the fourth straight month in July at (-) 1.36% as against (-) 4.12% recorded in June, 2023, due to fall in the prices of Minerals, Mineral oils, and Electricity.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after Singapore's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2023. That was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent following the 0.4 percent contraction in the three months prior. On an annualized basis, GDP grew 0.5 percent - again missing forecasts for 0.7 percent but up from 0.4 percent in the previous quarter.

Back home, the automobile industry stocks were in watch, amid a private report stating that domestic passenger vehicle sales are expected to cross 10 lakh mark in the festive period this year with demand remaining robust, especially for utility vehicles. The 68-day festive period this year falls between August 17 and November 14. Few days in between are not considered auspicious for buying.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65184.14, down by 138.51 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 64821.88 and 65236.78. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.65%, while Small cap index was down by 0.51%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.09%, while Metal down by 1.73%, Realty down by 1.18%, Telecom down by 1.09%, PSU down by 0.96% and Power down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.88%, Infosys up by 0.79%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.51%, Reliance Industries up by 0.47% and Nestle up by 0.32%. On the flip side, SBI down by 2.51%, JSW Steel down by 2.45%, Tata Steel down by 1.83%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.71% and Tata Motors down by 1.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel has said that the government is closely monitoring all the free trade agreements (FTAs) which it has signed and based on stakeholder consultations, existing FTAs with ASEAN and Korea are being reviewed. She said the government is negotiating FTAs with the European Union, the UK, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Canada. 

The minister stated that these negotiations or its review are a long-drawn process and the timeline for completion of such negotiations cannot be predicted since the parties to the negotiations are required to agree to the outcome. She noted that India has signed 13 FTAs and 6 Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with its trading partners. 

She further said the number of complaints referred/ received by the Government e-marketplace (GeM) vigilance unit during last year (July 2022 to June 2023) was 54. The majority of complaints, received through post and e-mails, were by sellers against buyers. After examination at GeM end, GeM observations in these cases are being sent to the corresponding Chief Vigilance Officer/ Head of Department of the Buyer Organisation for further examination/ investigation and/ or action(s) as deemed fit at their end.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19370.35, down by 57.95 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 19257.90 and 19392.00. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.04%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.93%, Infosys up by 0.84%, Reliance Industries up by 0.56% and LTIMindtree up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.87%, SBI down by 2.53%, JSW Steel down by 2.53%, Hindalco down by 2.34% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 2.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 413.74 points or 1.29% to 32,059.91, Hang Seng declined 386.23 points or 2.02% to 18,688.96, Taiwan Weighted lost 207.59 points or 1.27% to 16,393.66, Straits Times fell 53.79 points or 1.63% to 3,240.49, KOSPI dropped 20.39 points or 0.79% to 2,570.87 and Shanghai Composite weakened 10.08 points or 0.32% to 3,179.17, while Jakarta Composite gained 9.03 points or 0.13% to 6,889.01.