Bourses trim some of losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets pared some of their losses in late afternoon session but continued to trade in red in late afternoon session. Traders were cautious as IT major – TCS is set to announce its first quarter results for the financial year 2024-2025 later in a day. Besides, traders eagerly anticipated 2024 Union Budget on July 23. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank will make interest rate decisions 'when and as' they are needed, regardless of political factors. Amid rising hopes for a September rate cut, investors awaited the release of U.S. CPI report later in the day for further direction. European markets were trading higher as soft inflation data left the door open for another European Central Bank rate cut in September.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79831.21, down by 93.56 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 79464.38 and 80170.09. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.75%, Energy up by 1.39%, PSU up by 1.16%, Consumer Durables up by 0.53% and Metal was up by 0.36%, while Realty down by 1.53%, Healthcare down by 0.34%, Power down by 0.32%, Auto down by 0.29% and Utilities was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.54%, ITC up by 1.45%, SBI up by 0.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.77% and Asian Paints up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.48%, Nestle down by 1.37%, Sun Pharma down by 1.24%, NTPC down by 1.14% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao has flagged concerns over quality of disclosures made by some NBFCs and urged the auditing community to ensure that entities provide appropriate qualitative information to depositors as well as other stakeholders. The statutory auditors play a significant role in maintaining stakeholder confidence in audited financial statements and this is particularly important in the case of banking industry where the entire edifice is built on ‘trust’ and the biggest external stakeholders, i.e., depositors, are fragmented and unorganised.

He emphasised that the RBI has a strong interest in promoting sound and high-quality accounting and disclosure standards for the banking and financial industry as well as in having transparent and comparable financial statements that strengthen market discipline. He said the RBI, for some time now, has been supplementing rule-based regulations with principle-based regulations to give regulated entities (REs) a degree of flexibility in their business decision making. The principle-based approach to regulations is founded on the belief that financial reporting reflects the economic reality of a transaction. However, application of principle-based standards requires significant use of management judgement.

He said disclosures are the cornerstone of transparency as these bridge the gap between what management knows and what external users can infer from financial statements. Striking a balance between comprehensive disclosure and conciseness is a tightrope walk. When disclosures are clear and comprehensive, they foster trust in the market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24312.40, down by 12.05 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 24193.75 and 24402.65. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.67%, Coal India up by 1.91%, BPCL up by 1.76%, Tata Motors up by 1.54% and ITC up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.52%, Nestle down by 1.26%, Sun Pharma down by 1.24%, Shriram Finance down by 1.11% and NTPC down by 1.01% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 392.03 points or 0.93% to 42,224.02, Taiwan Weighted added 382.95 points or 1.57% to 24,390.03, Hang Seng advanced 360.66 points or 2.02% to 17,832.33, Shanghai Composite strengthened 31.03 points or 1.04% to 2,970.39, KOSPI increased 23.36 points or 0.81% to 2,891.35, Straits Times rose 19.36 points or 0.56% to 3,479.29 and Jakarta Composite was up by 4.82 points or 0.07% to 7,291.86.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 31.16 points or 0.38% to 8,224.67, France’s CAC rose 51.23 points or 0.68% to 7,624.78 and Germany’s DAX was up by 55.55 points or 0.3% to 18,462.77.