Sensex, Nifty back in red during early noon deals

Volatility continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty back in red, amid negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments remained pessimistic, amid a private report stating that foreign institutional investors have sold around $800 million in local equities in the past four sessions even as the benchmark Nifty 50 index hit a record 20,000 mark for the first time. Traders also remained cautious ahead of a slew of key economic data from the U.S., Europe and China later in the week, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates. 

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red, as Japan's machine tool orders declined for the eighth straight month in August largely due to weak domestic demand. The preliminary data from the Japan Machine Tool Builders Association, or JMTBA, showed that machine tool orders plummeted 17.6 percent year-on-year in August, though slower than the 19.7 percent fall in the previous month. Domestic demand was 31.1 percent lower in August compared to last year, and foreign orders contracted 9.1 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 67123.54, down by 3.54 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 66948.18 and 67539.10. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 2.75%, while Small cap index down by 3.40%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.27% and IT up by 0.24%, while Realty down by 3.27%, Telecom down by 3.15%, Power down by 3.11%, PSU down by 3.09% and Utilities down by 3.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.90%, TCS up by 1.88%, Sun Pharma up by 1.11%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.00% and Infosys up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.93%, Power Grid Corp down by 2.95%, Tata Motors down by 2.51%, NTPC down by 2.22% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh has said that the government is looking at further easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the space sector to attract overseas players. He said ‘there is tremendous scope for collaboration such as in artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber security, automation and space, where we are looking to further liberalise our foreign direct investment norms to bring in private sector and foreign investment in our space sector’.

Singh stated that presently FDI in space sector is allowed up to 100 per cent in the area of satellites establishment and operations through government route only. He also said that several Saudi Arabian companies have invested in Indian wind and solar energy sectors. He said ‘we look forward for collaboratively working with you and there is also tremendous scope for collaboration between Saudi Arabian military industry and make in India campaign, which can enable us to work on joint collaboration on defence projects of mutual interest.’

On trade front, DPIIT secretary said that the bilateral trade between the two countries has reached $52.8 billion in 2022-23. India's exports stood at $10.7 billion in the last fiscal as against $8.8 billion in 2021-22. The bilateral trade was $43 billion in 2021-22.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19973.20, down by 23.15 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 19914.65 and 20110.35. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.90%, TCS up by 1.94%, Grasim Industries up by 1.91%, Divi's Lab up by 1.36% and Sun Pharma up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.71%, BPCL down by 3.33%, Power Grid Corp down by 2.99%, Tata Motors down by 2.69% and Adani Enterprises down by 2.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite weakened 5.48 points or 0.17% to 3,137.30, Jakarta Composite plunged 22.67 points or 0.33% to 6,940.72, KOSPI dropped 20.30 points or -0.8% to 2,536.58, Straits Times fell 6.84 points or 0.21% to 3,211.44 and Hang Seng declined 15.96 points or 0.09% to 18,080.49, while Nikkei 225 surged 308.61 points or 0.94% to 32,776.37 and Taiwan Weighted added 139.76 points or 0.84% to 16,572.71.