Benchmarks add losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks added losses in morning deals, dragged by Realty, Capital Goods and banking stocks, tracking weak global cues. Sentiments remained down-beat as according to RBI minutes, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said the inflation readings for the next couple of months are likely to remain well above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent. Traders overlooked Finance Secretary T V Somanathan’s statement that India will continue to clock the highest growth rate among the top five economies in the world in the foreseeable future and asked Indian diaspora to act as a catalyst and supplement government efforts in making India the biggest opportunity. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that the G20 ministers of trade and investment would be able to reach a broad consensus on all trade-related issues at the two-day meeting here. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors braced for the risk of a hawkish tilt in the U.S. monetary policy, while worries about China's economic health linger.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64845.20, down by 407.14 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 64799.66 and 65106.00. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.69%, while Small cap index was down by 0.44%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Telecom up by 0.49%, while Realty down by 1.12%, Capital Goods down by 1.00%, Bankex down by 0.82%, IT down by 0.80% and Consumer Durables down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 0.97%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.62%, Asian Paints up by 0.17%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.17% and Reliance Industries up by 0.12%. On the flip side, JIO Financial Services down by 2.73%, Indusind Bank down by 2.15%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.71%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.25% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the ongoing negotiations between India and the UK on a free trade agreement (FTA) are progressing ‘extremely well’ and it is expected to conclude at an early date. Goyal said both sides are confident that they will come out with a very balanced, equitable and fair agreement in the interest of businesses and people of both the countries.

Talking about the UK's demand on import duty concessions on auto, whiskey and dairy products, he said India and the UK both are pressing hard for their requests and concerns. He stated ‘There is hardly an issue on which we are not negotiating and I assure you that it will be a strong and hard outcome that will come out of all these negotiations... I believe we have to talk with sincerity, with speed but ensuring balance... and we are both committed to come up with a win-win solution for both countries. I hope it can happen at an early date.’

Out of the total 26 chapters in the proposed FTA, 19 have been closed. Investment is being negotiated as a separate agreement (bilateral investment treaty) between India and the UK. The main issues which could come up for discussion in this round include investment treaty, reduction of duties on auto and whiskey, rules of origin, intellectual property rights and matters pertaining to services. Besides, talking about the proposed trade pact with the European Union, he said that the negotiations are on but as the EU block has 27 nations, the negotiations would take a little longer.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19258.70, down by 128.00 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 19257.40 and 19339.55. There were 6 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 1.01%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.37%, ONGC up by 0.32%, BPCL up by 0.30% and Asian Paints up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.26%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.74%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.50%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.34% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 187.42 points or 1.04% to 18,024.75, Taiwan Weighted lost 225.22 points or 1.34% to 16,545.65, Shanghai Composite weakened 13.93 points or 0.45% to 3,068.31, Jakarta Composite plunged 23.9 points or 0.35% to 6,875.49, KOSPI dropped 19.46 points or 0.77% to 2,518.22 and Nikkei 225 slipped 643.25 points or 1.99% to 31,643.96.

On the flip side, Straits Times rose 1.08 points or 0.03% to 3,181.80.