Bourses continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in late afternoon session tracing negative cues from European markets. Traders were seen piling up positions in Power and Metal sectors while selling was witnessed in IT sector stocks. Investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the Industrial production data to be out later in the day. However, losses were moderated with Global rating agency Fitch Ratings’ report stating that Indian banks' Viability Ratings (VR) will continue to benefit from improved operating conditions and performance in the near term. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower as a jump in U.S. bond yields following a weak Treasury auction coupled with Fed Chair Jerome Powell's cautious comments on the rate hike path dashed expectations of a peak in U.S. interest rates. European markets were trading lower after hawkish comments from Fed chief Jerome Powell.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64782.08, down by 50.12 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 64580.95 and 64882.17. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.82%, Power up by 0.75%, Metal up by 0.64%, PSU up by 0.49% and Basic Materials was up by 0.30%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.68%, Auto down by 0.60%, TECK down by 0.46%, IT down by 0.38% and Consumer Discretionary was down by 0.34% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.62%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.09%, JSW Steel up by 0.95%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.80% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.86%, Titan Company down by 1.47%, HCL Tech down by 1.19%, Infosys down by 0.67% and Indusind Bank down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said that aspirational Young India will spur the future growth of India. During 'DPIIT-CII National Conference on Ease of Doing Business', the minister said that the foundational economic reforms undertaken by the Government has ensured that India moved from fragile 5 to top 5 economies in the last 5 years. 

The Minister further lauded the industry for supporting the national initiative of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and said that the Government is working to take EoDB to the next level. Meanwhile, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), a nodal department for Ease of Doing Business organized the conference in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

National Conference on Ease of Doing Business covered many important areas relating to Ease of Doing Business. Sessions regarding Ease of Doing Business way Forward, National Single Window System, Strengthening Dispute Resolution mechanism, Easing Paying Taxes and customs procedures were part of the conference.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19378.15, down by 17.15 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 19329.45 and 19413.95. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.58%, ONGC up by 1.22%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.89%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.85% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.78%, Titan Company down by 1.55%, HCL Tech down by 1.27% and Apollo Hospital down by 1.25% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 308.03 points or 1.79% to 17,203.26, Nikkei 225 slipped 78.35 points or 0.24% to 32,568.11, Taiwan Weighted lost 62.98 points or 0.38% to 16,682.67, Straits Times fell 28.92 points or 0.93% to 3,106.40, Jakarta Composite plunged 27.54 points or 0.4% to 6,810.69, KOSPI dropped 17.42 points or 0.72% to 2,409.66 and Shanghai Composite was down by 14.31 points or 0.47% to 3,038.97.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.46 points or 0.5% to 7,418.21, France’s CAC fell 38.95 points or 0.55% to 7,074.71 and Germany’s DAX was down by 59.31 points or 0.39% to 15,293.23.