Bourses trade flat in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks trimmed most of their early gains and traded flat in late afternoon session. Sector wise, IT sector traded higher despite Icra Ratings said that India IT services sector's revenue growth will slow down to 3 per cent in the current fiscal from 9.2 per cent in the previous financial year. The profitability will also take a beating in this financial year and the operating profit margin will narrow by up to 1 percentage point to 20-21 per cent. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher amid positive sentiment stemming from Fed pause hopes and Chinese stimulus measures. Markets looked ahead to a raft of key economic readings from the U.S. and China this week for additional clues on the rate and economic outlook. European markets were trading higher as mining stocks led gains tracking strength in metal prices and NN Group jumped after reporting first-half results.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64975.05, down by 21.55 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 64965.69 and 65229.03. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.61%, Metal up by 1.16%, Utilities up by 0.92%, Power up by 0.89% and Capital Goods was up by 0.64%, while Telecom down by 0.68%, FMCG down by 0.26%, Bankex down by 0.09%, Healthcare down by 0.07% and Energy was down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were JIO Financial up by 1.82%, JSW Steel up by 1.55%, Tata Steel up by 1.53%, HCL Tech up by 1.31% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.45%, Reliance Industries down by 1.18%, Axis Bank down by 1.01%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.84% and Indusind Bank down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has stated that the corporate rating upgrades continue to outpace the downgrades in July 2023, as it upgraded 20 ratings in July 2023 (June 2023: 29) while downgrading 10 ratings (June 2023: 9). As per the report, the upgrades were mainly in the realty, power and auto & auto components sectors in the reported month. During May to July 2023, issuers belonging to power, auto & auto components, consumer services and capital goods sectors saw the highest proportion of positive rating actions.

Ind-Ra further noted that issuers belonging to realty benefitted from better-than-expected pre-sales or healthy occupancy levels, leading to improved liquidity and thereby healthier financial metrics, while renewable power issuers were upgraded, on the back of a better-than-expected operating performance, an increase in average tariff realisation and improved liquidity. Further, auto & auto components issuers benefitted from a large order book amid a recovery in the domestic auto industry as well as improved financial metrics.

The report said the rating downgrades in textiles (including one to default) were individual issuer-specific and mainly driven by inability to pass on increase in raw material prices or deterioration in financial metrics due to an inventory pile-up, leading to tightening of liquidity. Financial institutions saw upgrades for two issuers during this period, on account of growing franchise and strong credit growth and improved capital buffers while maintaining adequate liquidity and a stable asset quality.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19319.80, up by 13.75 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 19309.10 and 19377.90. There were 37 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.42%, JIO Financial up by 2.27%, Adani Ports up by 2.18%, UPL up by 2.11% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38%, Reliance Industries down by 1.24%, Axis Bank down by 0.98%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.93% and Indusind Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 56.98 points or 0.18% to 32,226.97, Hang Seng advanced 353.29 points or 1.91% to 18,484.03, Shanghai Composite strengthened 37.25 points or 1.19% to 3,135.89, Jakarta Composite gained 39.27 points or 0.57% to 6,961.00, Taiwan Weighted added 114.39 points or 0.69% to 16,623.65, Straits Times rose 9.77 points or 0.3% to 3,223.45 and KOSPI was up by 8.75 points or 0.34% to 2,552.16.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 99.36 points or 1.35% to 7,437.94, France’s CAC rose 19.08 points or 0.26% to 7,343.79 and Germany’s DAX was up by 55.23 points or 0.35% to 15,847.84.