Losses intensify over Dalal Street in early afternoon deals

Losses got intensified over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their day’s low points, amid mixed cues from other Asian markets along with heavy selling at IT and TECK counters. Sentiments remained pessimistic amid reports that India's current account deficit (CAD) surged to $9.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023-24, more than seven times what it was in the preceding quarter. According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), CAD in April-June amounted to 1.1 percent of GDP. The street overlooked the World Intellectual Property Organization’s latest report showing that India retains 40th rank out of 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 rankings. India has been on a rising trajectory, over the past several years in the Global Innovation Index, from a rank of 81 in 2015 to 40 in 2023. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after Thailand's central bank lifted its key interest rate by another quarter point to the highest level in a decade and hinted that rates are unlikely to be raised again as inflation remains below target. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Thailand unanimously voted to raise the benchmark rate to 2.50 percent from 2.25 percent. This was the eighth consecutive hike. The interest rate has been lifted by 200 basis points since August 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65817.14, down by 301.55 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 65796.29 and 66406.01. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.13%, Industrials up by 0.76%, PSU up by 0.44%, Power up by 0.32% and Utilities up by 0.29%, while IT down by 1.20%, TECK down by 1.04%, FMCG down by 0.84%, Consumer Durables down by 0.65% and Auto down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.14%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 0.45%, SBI up by 0.42%, Axis Bank up by 0.36% and HDFC Bank up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.76%, Asian Paints down by 2.72%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.44% and Infosys down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that in the next 25 years, the country's Amrit Kaal as espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will strive to be a developed country and it is logical' that it also seeks to be a global power.

Jaishankar said ‘India is now the fifth largest economy in the world, obviously your interests are more, your responsibilities are more, your contributions are more. There will be many more countries and regions with which you are linked. So one part of it I would say really flows from the growth, from the rise of India’.

The minister said he would not be uni-causal about it and there ‘are a variety of issues which are driving what is clearly a heightened Indian activity and in a way we are also planning ahead’. He said ‘Prime Minister Modi speaks about planning for the next quarter of a century. We have a particular Indian term for it, he said, making a reference to Amrit Kaal'. The goal is really a quarter century from now, we should strive to be a developed country. That's the goal at home. But if you look at the consequences of that, I think in that quarter century, it would be logical that we would also seek to be a global power. If you're going to have a global interest and a global footprint, then it takes time to prepare it. You're not going to turn on a switch and suddenly become global’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19625.20, down by 91.25 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 19620.00 and 19766.65. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.90%, ONGC up by 0.56%, Eicher Motors up by 0.52%, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 0.51% and HDFC Bank up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.74%, Asian Paints down by 2.84%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.74% and LTIMindtree down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 43.38 points or 0.27% to 16,353.74, Straits Times rose 7.33 points or 0.23% to 3,207.36 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 1.23 points or 0.04% to 3,108.55, while Hang Seng declined 237.43 points or 1.35% to 17,374.44 and Nikkei 225 slipped 499.38 points or 1.57% to 31,872.52.