Sensex, Nifty remain lackluster in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained lackluster in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red, impacted by negative cues from other Asian markets along with selling at Oil & Gas and Energy counters. Investors looked ahead to a data-heavy week headlined by the Federal Reserve meeting. A cautious undertone remained among traders after Israel refused any ceasefire in its war against Hamas. On the sectoral front, jewelry industry stocks were in focus as the World Gold Council (WGC) said that gold demand in India, the world's second-largest consumer of the yellow metal, rose 10 per cent to 210.2 tonnes during the third quarter of this calendar year, aided by softening of gold prices and festive demand.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as China's manufacturing activity contracted unexpectedly in October and the growth in the non-manufacturing sector softened. The survey data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index declined unexpectedly to 49.5 in October. The score was forecast to remain unchanged at 50.2. A score below 50.0 indicates contraction in the sector.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 63953.04, down by 159.61 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 63843.21 and 64452.32. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.37%, Utilities up by 0.37%, Basic Materials up by 0.37%, Telecom up by 0.34% and FMCG up by 0.27%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.82%, Energy down by 0.74%, Capital Goods down by 0.40%, Healthcare down by 0.40% and Metal down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.44%, Asian Paints up by 1.40%, HCL Tech. up by 0.71%, Power Grid up by 0.67% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.51%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.37%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.07%, Indusind Bank down by 0.82% and Axis Bank down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh has said that renewable energy sources have the potential to supply 65 per cent of the world's total electricity by 2030 and decarbonise 90 per cent of the power sector by 2050. 

The minister noted that currently, around 80 per cent of the global population resides in countries that depend on fossil fuel imports, totalling a staggering 6 billion people. 
He stressed that the objective is to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, aligning with the countries' established targets and policies and expanding aspirations to include zero and low emission technologies, adopting more blended finance and risk-sharing facilities in the renewable energy sector. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19101.15, down by 39.75 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 19064.70 and 19233.70. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 2.85%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.46%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.46%, Asian Paints up by 1.38% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.52%, ONGC down by 1.99%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.39%, LTIMindtree down by 1.31% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 268.62 points or 1.57% to 17,137.74, Taiwan Weighted lost 148.41 points or 0.93% to 16,001.27, Jakarta Composite plunged 31.99 points or 0.48% to 6,703.90, Shanghai Composite weakened 1.37 points or 0.05% to 3,020.18 and KOSPI dropped 32.56 points or 1.43% to 2,277.99, while  Nikkei 225 surged 161.89 points or 0.52% to 30,858.85 and Straits Times rose 3.74 points or 0.12% to 3,068.03.