Markets trade under pressure in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded under pressure in late afternoon session ahead of inflation data and Q1 earnings. Traders were worried as India consumer price inflation is likely to increases in June with rising vegetable prices. Sector wise, banking stocks remained in focus as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Swaminathan J has said that the banking sector, which is at a decadal high in terms of financial parameters, is all set to support the growth of the Indian economy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green with Japanese markets reaching another record high, buoyed by a weaker yen and strong gains in technology shares as Nvidia supplier TSMC's sales surged past expectations on AI infrastructure demand. European markets were trading higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the case for interest-rate cuts is becoming stronger due to slowing inflation. The closely watched monthly U.S. inflation report is due on Thursday. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79716.81, down by 634.83 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 79435.76 and 80481.36. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was declined 0.63%, while Small cap index was down by 0.95%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.22% and Utilities was up by 0.10%, while Auto down by 1.89%, Metal down by 1.79%, Basic Materials down by 1.25%, IT down by 1.23% and TECK was down by 1.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.92%, Power Grid up by 1.48%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.06%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.55% and Titan Company up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 6.60%, Tata Steel down by 2.18%, TCS down by 2.14%, SBI down by 1.48% and HCL Tech down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Communications has said that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Telecom and Networking Products and for Large Scale Electronic Manufacturing of Electronics have led to a significant increase in production, employment generation, economic growth, and exports in the country. Ministry noted that within three years of the Telecom PLI scheme, the scheme has attracted an investment of Rs 3,400 crore, the telecom equipment production has exceeded the milestone of Rs 50,000 crore with exports totalling approximately Rs 10,500 crore, creating more than 17,800 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs. 

It said this milestone underscores the robust growth and competitiveness of India’s telecom manufacturing industry, driven by government initiatives to promote local production and reduce import dependency. The PLI scheme aims to enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities and make India a global hub for telecom equipment production. The scheme also offers financial incentives to manufacturers based on their incremental sales from products manufactured in India.

Besides, Ministry of Communications stated that the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Electronic Manufacturing of Electronics covers the manufacture of mobile phones and its components.  As a result of this PLI scheme, both the production and export of mobile phones from India has picked up greatly. India from being a large importer of mobile phones in 2014-15, when only 5.8 crore units were produced in the country, while 21 crore units were imported, in 2023-24, 33 crore units were produced in India and only 0.3 crore units were imported and close to 5 crore units were exported. The value of exports of mobile phones has gone up from Rs 1,556 crore in 2014-15 and just Rs 1,367 crore in 2017-18, to Rs 1,28,982 crore in 2023-24. Import of mobile phones was valued a Rs 48,609 crore in 2014-15 and has dropped to just Rs 7,665 crore in 2023-24.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24253.55, down by 179.65 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 24141.80 and 24461.05. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.08%, SBI Life up by 2.14%, Britannia up by 1.89%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.72% and Divi's Lab up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 7.06%, Hindalco down by 2.41%, Tata Steel down by 2.21%, TCS down by 2.02% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 251.82 points or 0.6% to 41,831.99, Taiwan Weighted added 107 points or 0.45% to 24,007.08, Straits Times rose 27.49 points or 0.8% to 3,453.58, Jakarta Composite gained 21.14 points or 0.29% to 7,290.94, KOSPI increased 0.61 points or 0.02% to 2,867.99. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite weakened 20.01 points or 0.68% to 2,939.36 and Hang Seng was down by 51.56 points or 0.3% to 17,471.67.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.06 points or 0.32% to 8,165.87, France’s CAC rose 26.88 points or 0.36% to 7,535.54 and Germany’s DAX was up by 62.85 points or 0.34% to 18,299.04.