Bourses add losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets added losses in late afternoon session amid selling pressure in banking sector’s stocks. However, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded in green. Sentiments remained cautious after the Reserve Bank tightened norms for consumer credit. The Reserve Bank tightened norms for consumer credit as it asked banks and NBFCs to assign a higher risk weight for unsecured personal loans, a move aimed at making the lenders more cautious on such advances. The risk weight on unsecured consumer loans has been raised by 25 percentage points. Sector wise, e-commerce industry remained in focus as e-commerce industry has suggested the government permit foreign direct investment (FDI) in inventory-based model of online trade only for export purposes

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as softer U.S. data and declining oil prices stoked concerns about the global economic outlook. European markets were trading higher led by healthcare stocks, while investors keenly awaited inflation data for further proof of easing price pressures across the board.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65878.23, down by 104.25 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 65639.74 and 66037.69. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.96%, Capital Goods up by 0.95%, Healthcare up by 0.93%, Auto up by 0.83% and FMCG was up by 0.73%, while Bankex down by 1.26%, Oil & Gas down by 1.16%, Energy down by 0.82%, PSU down by 0.58% and TECK was down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.64%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.61%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.57%, Nestle up by 1.37% and Power Grid up by 1.16%. On the flip side, SBI down by 3.49%, Axis Bank down by 3.00%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.10%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.12% and ICICI Bank down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest monthly bulletin for November 2023 has stated that the global economy shows signs of slowing down in the final quarter of 2023 as manufacturing languishes while services sector activity appears to have reached the end of its post-pandemic expansion. It also said that going forward, tightening financial conditions is a significant risk to the global outlook. 

As per the bulletin, in India, the momentum of the change in GDP is sequentially expected to be higher in Q3:2023-24, with festival demand remaining ebullient. Investment demand appears to be resilient with the government’s infrastructure spending, an uptick in private capex, automation, digitalisation, and indigenisation providing a boost. 

The monthly bulletin further noted that globally, there is an observable trend of tightening financing conditions for coal projects, reflecting a heightened awareness of risks associated with the energy transition. It said repurposing coal-fired power plants is a complex endeavor, but emerging climate finance tools like coal transition mechanisms can expedite the shift towards cleaner energy, despite being in a nascent stage.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19752.85, down by 12.35 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 19667.45 and 19806.00. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life up by 4.26%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.65%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.07%, Grasim Industries up by 1.99% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.74%. On the flip side, SBI down by 3.52%, Axis Bank down by 3.11%, ONGC down by 2.73%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.11% and BPCL down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 160.79 points or 0.48% to 33,585.20, Taiwan Weighted added 37.77 points or 0.22% to 17,208.95, Jakarta Composite gained 14.85 points or 0.21% to 6,972.86 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.44 points or 0.11% to 3,054.37. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 7.9 points or 0.25% to 3,125.15, KOSPI dropped 18.33 points or 0.74% to 2,469.85 and Hang Seng was down by 378.63 points or 2.17% to 17,454.19.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 50.45 points or 0.68% to 7,461.42, France’s CAC rose 48.37 points or 0.67% to 7,216.77 and Germany’s DAX was up by 81.75 points or 0.52% to 15,868.36.