Markets trade near day’s low levels in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded near day’s low levels in late afternoon session. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded with cut of over two percent. Barring Healthcare stocks, there was selling across all sectoral indices. Traders avoided to take position ahead of upcoming budget. Investors overlooked private report that Indian stock market has pipped Hong Kong to become the fourth-highest equity market globally. The combined value of shares listed on Indian exchanges reached $4.33 trillion, versus $4.29 trillion for Hong Kong. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with continued gains on Wall Street and China stimulus hopes helping underpin investor sentiment. European markets were trading mostly in red as market participants awaited the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision Thursday. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 70556.19, down by 867.46 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 70555.12 and 72039.20. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 2.64%, while Small cap index was down by 2.13%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was Healthcare up by 1.00%, while Realty down by 4.50%, PSU down by 4.11%, Oil & Gas down by 3.58%, Metal down by 3.51% and Energy was down by 3.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.56%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.97%, ICICI Bank up by 1.84%, Power Grid up by 1.07% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 5.67%, SBI down by 4.20%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.73%, Asian Paints down by 3.45% and Axis Bank down by 2.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ministry of coal in its latest report has showed that the coal-based power generation in the country grew around 10.13% during April-December 2023, as compared to corresponding period of previous year while overall power generation grew 6.71% during the same period.

The report further noted that the Domestic coal-based power generation during April-December 2023 reached 872 billion units (BU), reflecting an increase of 7.14% from the 813.9 billion units generated in the corresponding period of last year. This reflects an ample coal supply to meet the growing energy demand in the country.

As per the report, coal import for blending has decreased substantially by 40.66% to 17.08 MT during April -December 2023 from 28.78 MT in the corresponding period of previous year, despite the escalating power demand. It showcases the nation’s commitment to self-reliance in coal production and minimizing overall coal imports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 21270.60, down by 301.20 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 21263.15 and 21750.25. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 7.15%, Sun Pharma up by 3.51%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.90%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.26% and ICICI Bank up by 1.84%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 5.61%, Coal India down by 5.23%, SBI Life down by 4.63%, ONGC down by 4.50% and Adani Ports down by 4.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 392.8 points or 2.56% to 15,353.98, Taiwan Weighted added 59.49 points or 0.33% to 17,874.59, Shanghai Composite strengthened 14.64 points or 0.53% to 2,770.98 and KOSPI was up by 14.26 points or 0.58% to 2,478.61. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 12.72 points or 0.41% to 3,136.40, Jakarta Composite plunged 24.67 points or 0.34% to 7,223.26 and Nikkei 225 was down by 29.38 points or 0.08% to 36,517.57.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 17.86 points or 0.24% to 7,395.39 and Germany’s DAX was down by 29.56 points or 0.18% to 16,653.80, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.64 points or 0.02% to 7,489.35.