Bourses trade flat in late afternoon session

The Indian benchmarks traded flat in late afternoon session. Sensex trading marginally in red, while Nifty trading with positive bias. Investors were hoping that Federal Reserve may pause in the rate hike cycle later this month. Traders overlooked report that Fitch Ratings has retained India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal at 6.3 per cent saying the Indian economy continues to show resilience despite tighter monetary policy and weakness in exports, but upped year-end inflation projection on EI Nino threat. The Indian economy grew 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of current fiscal on strong services sector activity and robust demand. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher after a highly anticipated U.S. inflation report did little to alter market expectations for the path of rate hikes. Fed funds futures currently imply no chance of a rate hike next week, and about a 45 percent chance of another hike by year's end. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors in the region look ahead to the European Central Bank’s next rate decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 67449.92, down by 17.07 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 67336.46 and 67771.05. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.83%, while Small cap index was up by 1.00%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.41%, Realty up by 1.22%, Oil & Gas up by 1.14%, PSU up by 0.92% and Auto was up by 0.71%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.19% and FMCG was down by 0.14% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.71%, Tata Steel up by 1.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.30%, Nestle up by 1.09% and Power Grid up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.21%, ITC down by 1.00%, ICICI Bank down by 0.38%, TCS down by 0.38% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) remained in the negative territory for the fifth straight month in August 2023 at (-) 0.52% as against (-) 1.36% recorded in July 2023. The negative rate of inflation in August is primarily due to fall in prices food products.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, declined 0.47% to 189.6 (provisional) in August 2023 from 190.5 (provisional) for the month of July 2023, on the back of fall in prices of Food Articles. However, Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas, Minerals and Non-food Articles increased in August 2023 as compared to July 2023. 

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased 2.96% to 149.6 (provisional) in August 2023 from 145.3 (provisional) for the month of July 2023, as prices of mineral oils and electricity increased in August 2023 as compared to July 2023.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.14% to 139.8 (provisional) in August 2023 from 139.6 (provisional) for the month of July 2023. Meanwhile, for the month of June, 2023 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 148.9 and (-) 4.18% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20077.75, up by 7.75 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 20043.45 and 20167.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.95%, Hindalco up by 3.25%, ONGC up by 2.31%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.71% and Eicher Motors up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.35%, ITC down by 1.17%, LTIMindtree down by 0.83%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.78% and Britannia down by 0.74% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 461.58 points or 1.39% to 33,168.10, Taiwan Weighted added 226.05 points or 1.34% to 16,807.56, Hang Seng advanced 38.7 points or 0.21% to 18,047.92, KOSPI increased 38.19 points or 1.48% to 2,572.89, Straits Times rose 27.16 points or 0.84% to 3,246.09, Jakarta Composite gained 14.16 points or 0.2% to 6,949.64 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.48 points or 0.11% to 3,126.55.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 22.16 points or 0.31% to 7,200.41 and Germany’s DAX was down by 30.94 points or 0.2% to 15,623.09. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 24.92 points or 0.33% to 7,550.91.