Bourses trade deep in red in late afternoon session

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65,949.23, down by 478.86 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 65909.73 and 66475.27. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.82%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.32% and Auto was up by 0.19%, while Power down by 1.23%, Bankex down by 1.11%, Consumer Durables down by 1.03%, PSU down by 1.03% and Utilities was down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.99%, Sun Pharma up by 1.62%, Infosys up by 0.58%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.30% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.55%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.72%, Axis Bank down by 1.56%, HDFC Bank down by 1.27% and ICICI Bank down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has stated that the corporate credit profile continued its robust performance in first half of the current financial year (H1FY24), third year in a row. Among the sectors which witnessed positive rating actions are infrastructure asset operators, largely from the renewable power sector. 

According to the report, there were positive rating actions for construction (EPC for railways, solar power) and capital goods companies, supported by continued government capex spending and green shoots in private capex. Besides, premiumisation of consumption in sectors such as auto & auto components, realty and companies in consumer services helped them in witnessing rating upgrades.

Ind-Ra further noted that financial sector entities witnessed high stability in their ratings, with more than 90% of the ratings being affirmed. Continued strengthening of balance sheets and strong credit growth driven by sustained retail and continued corporate credit growth benefitted the sector’s credit profile. 

However, the credit rating agency noted that the banking system credit growth is likely to reduce to 13.5% year on year (yoy) in FY24 (FY23: 15.0% yoy) due to the continuing global economic challenges and concerns on inflation in the domestic market, leading to a possible moderation in the credit profile.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19,683.00, down by 128.50 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 19673.55 and 19840.95. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.34%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.65%, Tata Motors up by 1.99%, Sun Pharma up by 1.57% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.54%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.73%, Axis Bank down by 1.48%, LTIMindtree down by 1.33% and Tata Consumer down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted lost 201.64 points or 1.23% to 16,440.91, Hang Seng declined 40.82 points or 0.23% to 17,732.52, Straits Times fell 35 points or 1.12% to 3,136.83 and Shanghai Composite was down by 24.79 points or 0.81% to 3,058.71. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 1.96 points or 0.01% to 32,042.25, KOSPI increased 2.43 points or 0.1% to 2,462.60 and Jakarta Composite was up by 3.87 points or 0.06% to 6,943.49.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.86 points or 0.04% to 7,678.07, France’s CAC rose 10.32 points or 0.15% to 7,040.02 and Germany’s DAX was up by 14.84 points or 0.1% to 15,266.53.