Bourses continue to trade with losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade with losses in late afternoon session amid weakness in global markets. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded mixed. Traders overlooked report by SBI Research in which it anticipates India's GDP growth could touch 8 per cent in FY24, with strong performance across various economic indicators and favorable monsoon conditions. The report also highlights the potential impact of global economic resilience on India's growth trajectory. Despite the challenges faced by the global economy, including geopolitical tensions and extreme weather events, global growth remains resilient, supported by easing inflationary pressures and strong employment conditions.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as the dollar and U.S. bond yields ticked higher following hawkish Fed comments and a poor two-year and five-year note auction. Geopolitical tensions also weighed after the pro-Iranian Yemeni Houthi group attacked a Greek ship in the Red Sea. European markets were trading lower as rising bond yields globally spurred concerns of interest rates staying elevated for longer, even as investors awaited more economic data to firm up bets on rate cuts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74617.76, down by 552.69 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 74539.56 and 74986.22. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.51%, Metal up by 0.50%, Telecom up by 0.39%, Industrials up by 0.37% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.31%, while Bankex down by 1.33%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77%, Realty down by 0.69%, IT down by 0.68% and Energy was down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.73%, Power Grid up by 1.52%, Nestle up by 1.08%, ITC up by 0.44% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.25%, ICICI Bank down by 2.23%, Axis Bank down by 1.81%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.76% and HDFC Bank down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry held deliberations with experts, former officers and senior officials from different departments on framing a standard operating procedure (SoP) for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and other related issues under these agreements. 

The ministry said the participants also deliberated on SoP for FTA negotiations, capacity building and resource management for trade negotiations as well as certain contemporary issues under modern FTAs such as labour, environment, and gender. It said economic assessment and modelling of FTAs, addressing new disciplines into FTAs such as labour, environment, gender, and indigenous people; and services and digital trade in FTAs were among the main themes for discussions.

It further said SoP for FTA negotiations including stakeholder consultations; capacity building and FTA resource management; and leveraging trade agreements to address emerging areas such as CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism), supply chain disruptions, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence were also discussed. It said that participants in the economic assessment session highlighted that detailed economic studies, including models like computable general equilibrium, are necessary to guide FTA negotiations. The participants also discussed the need for careful consideration of trade and industrial policies together. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22745.30, down by 142.85 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 22705.60 and 22825.50. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.90%, Sun Pharma up by 1.82%, Power Grid up by 1.65%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.24% and Adani Ports up by 1.16%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.46%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.41%, ICICI Bank down by 2.04%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.03% and Axis Bank down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 344.15 points or 1.86% to 18,477.01, Nikkei 225 slipped 298.5 points or 0.77% to 38,556.87, Taiwan Weighted lost 195.91 points or 0.9% to 21,662.50, Jakarta Composite plunged 111.35 points or 1.56% to 7,142.28, KOSPI dropped 45.55 points or 1.7% to 2,677.30 and Straits Times was down by 1.4 points or 0.04% to 3,328.69. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 1.45 points or 0.05% to 3,111.02.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.99 points or 0.15% to 8,242.19, France’s CAC fell 44.86 points or 0.56% to 8,012.94 and Germany’s DAX was down by 75.07 points or 0.4% to 18,602.80.