Markets trade lower with cut of over quarter percent in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets traded lower with cut of over quarter a percent in late morning deals as market participants indulged in reducing their positions. Selling in Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors and Hindustan Unilever companies’ stocks dragged the markets to trade lower. Sentiments were weak as foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth net Rs 477.76 crore on November 17, 2023, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.  Further, traders were cautious as S&P Global Ratings said the hike in risk weights for consumer loans like personal loan and credit cards may shave-off tier I capital of banks by 60 basis points, hit loan growth, and squeeze the nonbank sector in particular. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Healthcare, IT, Metal, PSU and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Auto, Capital Goods, Consumer Disc, FMCG and Consumer Durables.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after the China's central bank left its benchmark lending rates unchanged. Back home, in the stock specific development, Newgen Software Technologies surged after the company announced that its board will meet on November 27 to consider and recommend a proposal for the issue of bonus shares.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65559.26, down by 235.47 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 65550.78 and 65844.01. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.89%, IT up by 0.54%, Metal up by 0.41%, PSU up by 0.34% and TECK up by 0.34%, while Auto down by 0.99%, Capital Goods down by 0.48%, Consumer Disc down by 0.39%, FMCG down by 0.38% and Consumer Durables down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL up by 1.05%, Wipro up by 0.70%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.66%, TCS up by 0.45% and NTPC up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.70%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.07%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.60%, Tata Motors down by 1.42% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Department of Pharmaceuticals Secretary Arunish Chawla has said that the domestic pharmaceutical industry has the potential to grow by 4-5 times to around $200 billion in value terms by scaling up manufacturing and enhancing exports. He noted that to reach a size of $200 billion by 2030 from around $50 billion currently, the industry needs to grow in double digits year-on-year while reducing dependence on imports and focussing on expanding exports. 

Chawla said ‘the new therapies that will come to the fore in the next 20 to 30 years would deliver smart therapies virtually for every difficult illness that we know of today. We have to be ready for that age. We have to prepare for that age’. He also said ‘we need to select and target a few sectors where we are still import dependent. We need to redesign policy framework and do it in such a way that, in ten years, we will become exporters in all these segments.’ He added that the government is helping the industry with various policy initiatives, including production-linked incentives.

He further said ‘we are already exporting in most sectors, and we hope, the way new technologies are coming up and the way our academic institutions, our laboratories and our industries are working together in the research and development sector, we hope that we will be an exporter of nearly all most major medical technology products.’ He said a shift is required from publications to patents and a mechanism for research-oriented sponsored degrees from industry is the need of the hour to foster innovation. He added that the country must utilise its technical resources, demographic dividend, skilled manpower, forward-looking government policies and economies of scale to become a world leader in pharmaceuticals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19677.30, down by 54.50 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 19673.70 and 19756.45. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 4.00%, Hindalco up by 1.46%, LTIMindtree up by 1.26%, HCL up by 1.01% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.63%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.07%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.60%, Tata Motors down by 1.51% and SBI Life down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 305.66 points or 1.75% to 17,759.85, KOSPI increased 27.07 points or 1.1% to 2,496.92, Shanghai Composite strengthened 15.5 points or 0.51% to 3,069.87 and Jakarta Composite gained 11.85 points or 0.17% to 6,989.52. However, Nikkei 225 slipped 164.23 points or 0.49% to 33,420.97, Taiwan Weighted lost 10.61 points or 0.06% to 17,198.34 and Straits Times fell 21.32 points or 0.68% to 3,103.35.