Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets remained in red and were trading marginally lower in late morning deals on account of selling in Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra and Infosys stocks. Weak cues from other Asian markets weighed on the domestic sentiments. Traders were cautious after China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in October. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in October from 50.2 September, dipping back below the 50-point level demarcating contraction from expansion. Further, foreign fund outflows also dented sentiments. Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 1,761.86 crore on October 30, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed. On the sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Realty, Telecom, Utilities, Basic Materials, Consumer Disc., while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Energy, TECK, Healthcare and IT. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite positive cues from US markets. However, Japanese market traded higher after the Bank of Japan decided to bring more flexibility to its yield curve control policy and left its short-term interest rates unchanged. The policy board led by Governor Kazuo Ueda, decided to regard the upper bound of 1.0 percent for 10-year JGB yields as a reference in its market operations. Back home, in the stock specific development,   Blue Star rallied as the company reported a 66 percent on-year surge in net profit in Q2. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64014.17, down by 98.48 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 63843.21 and 64452.32. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.29%, Telecom up by 0.67%, Utilities up by 0.64%, Basic Materials up by 0.38% and Consumer Disc up by 0.32%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.61%, Energy down by 0.50%, TECK down by 0.43%, Healthcare down by 0.37% and IT down by 0.35% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.20%, Tata Motors up by 0.82%, Power Grid up by 0.70%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.60% and SBI up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.60%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.93%, Infosys down by 0.83%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.69% and Axis Bank down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has asked private companies to dematerialise their securities by September 2024, a move that will help enhance transparency and will have a broad impact. The requirement will be applicable to private companies, excluding small companies and government companies. There are about 1.4 million private companies registered under the companies law with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Dematerialisation refers to the conversion of securities held in physical form to dematerialised or digitised form. In this regard, amendments have been made to the Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Second Amendment Rules, 2023. 

According to an MCA notification, a private company, which as on the last day of a financial year, ending on or after March 31, 2023, is not a small company as per audited financial statements for such financial year, shall, within eighteen months of the closure of such financial year, comply with the provisions of this rule. The move is also expected to enhance transparency and help curb possible unscrupulous activities with shares in the physical form. 

Under the Companies Act, 2013, private companies have restrictions on the transfer of shares, and the number of its members cannot be more than 200. Generally, a small company is one that has a paid-up share capital of not more than Rs 4 crore and a turnover of up to Rs 40 crore, subject to certain conditions. Post September 2024, the private companies should also ensure that offers for issue of any securities, buyback of securities, issue of bonus shares or rights offer, the securities held by promoters, directors and key managerial personnel are dematerialised, as per the amended rules.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19116.10, down by 24.80 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 19064.70 and 19233.70. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life up by 2.36%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.32%, Asian Paints up by 1.19%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.10% and Tata Motors up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.88%, ONGC down by 1.62%, LTIMindtree down by 1.02%, Britannia down by 0.84% and Infosys down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 323.44 points or 1.89% to 17,082.92, Taiwan Weighted lost 156.96 points or 0.98% to 15,992.72, Straits Times fell 8.12 points or 0.27% to 3,056.17, KOSPI dropped 31.49 points or 1.38% to 2,279.06, Shanghai Composite weakened 10.73 points or 0.36% to 3,010.82 and Jakarta Composite plunged 34.27 points or 0.51% to 6,701.62, However, Nikkei 225 surged 163.4 points or 0.53% to 30,860.36.