Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity markets remained in red in late morning deals amid rising crude oil prices on heightened Middle East tensions, with the United States saying it's preparing for significant attacks by Iran or its proxies against Israel as soon as this week. Hectic selling in HDFC Bank and Tata Motors companies’ stocks dragged the markets to trade lower. Traders overlooked report that India’s net direct tax collection, with refunds adjusted, grew 22.5 per cent to Rs 6.93 trillion between April 1 and August 11 of FY25. In the same period last year, tax collection was at Rs 5.65 trillion.  On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in Consumer Durables, Healthcare, TECK, IT and Power, while selling was witnessed in Basic Materials, Bankex, Telecom, Oil & Gas and Metal. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green ahead of the release of key US inflation reports later in the day and tomorrow.  In the stock specific developments, HDFC Bank fell after investors expressed disappointment over MSCI Global Standard Index's decision to increase the bank's weightage in two stages instead of one and lower-than-expected weight change. Brainbees Solutions listed with 34% premium on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79568.52, down by 80.40 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 79417.71 and 79692.55. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index up by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.82%, Healthcare up by 0.56%, TECK up by 0.47%, IT up by 0.42% and Power up by 0.41%, while Basic Materials down by 0.62%, Bankex down by 0.35%, Telecom down by 0.25%, Oil & Gas down by 0.21% and Metal down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan up by 1.71%, Indusind Bank up by 1.28%, HCL  up by 1.26%, NTPC up by 0.72% and Sun Pharma up by 0.68%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.03%, Tata Motors down by 1.06%, Asian Paints down by 0.40%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.37% and Tata Steel down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation declined to a five-year low of 3.54 per cent in July 2024 mainly on account of subdued prices of food items, and base effect. It was 5.08 per cent in June 2024 and 7.44 per cent in July 2023. Retail inflation slipped below the median target of 4 per cent of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the first time since September 2019 when it was at 3.99 per cent. The government has tasked the RBI to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Inflation has remained below 6 per cent since September 2023.

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in July 2024 stood at 4.10 per cent over 5.66 per cent in June 2024. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 2.98 per cent in July as against 4.39 per cent in June. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 195.3, 190.2 and 192.9 respectively, in July 2024. The price data are collected from selected 1114 urban Markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster. During the month of July 2024, NSO collected prices from 100% villages and 98.5% urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 88.71% for rural and 92.64% for urban.

According to the data, the CPI Inflation in the food basket was 5.42 per cent in July, down from 9.36 per cent in June, and 11.51 a year ago. The inflation rate for vegetables stood at 6.83 per cent in July, against June’s rate of 29.32 per cent. For cereals and pulses, which constitute a significant portion of India's staple diet, the prices quickened 8.14 per cent and 14.77 per cent respectively. The fuel and light prices contracted 5.48 per cent in July, against a contraction of 3.66 per cent in June. The annual inflation in ‘milk and milk products’ was 2.99 per cent, ‘oils and fats’ (-) 1.17, fruits 3.84 per cent, and spices (-) 1.43 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24326.90, down by 20.10 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 24277.15 and 24359.95. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 1.84%, Titan up by 1.84%, Indusind Bank up by 1.49%, HCL up by 1.22% and Coal India up by 1.01%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.96%, BPCL down by 1.72%, Shriram Finance down by 1.36%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.35% and Grasim Industries down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 13.88 points or 0.08% to 17,125.53, Jakarta Composite gained 45.52 points or 0.62% to 7,343.15, Straits Times rose 20.82 points or 0.64% to 3,256.20, KOSPI increased 0.08 points or 0% to 2,618.38 and Nikkei 225 surged 1155.25 points or 3.3% to 36,180.25. However, Taiwan Weighted lost 17.37 points or 0.08% to 21,755.89 and Shanghai Composite weakened 1.82 points or 0.06% to 2,856.38.