Domestic indices continue to trade in red on profit booking

Domestic indices continued to trade in red in late morning deals on account of profit booking following a strong rally to all-time highs in the previous session. Selling in Asian Paints, Adani Ports, ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra companies’ stocks weighed on the markets. However, losses remained limited as Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said that India has a growth potential of at least 7.5 per cent. This projection is slightly above the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.2 per cent growth for the current financial year, FY25. Besides, broader indices outperformed their large peers with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index gaining in the range of 0.55-1.05%. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in Realty, Metal, Basic Materials, Consumer Durables and IT, while selling was witnessed only in FMCG. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positives cues from the US markets overnight. Back home, in the stock specific developments, HG Infra Engineering rose after the company received a letter from the Central Railway regarding the appointed date for the Rs 716-crore project.  Puravankara rallied after it acquired redevelopment rights for Miami Apartments in Breach Candy, South Mumbai.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82926.08, down by 36.63 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 82653.22 and 83092.93. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index up by 1.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.78%, Metal up by 1.10%, Basic Materials up by 0.80%, Consumer Durables up by 0.72% and IT up by 0.50%, while FMCG down by 0.41% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 1.80%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.44%, Tata Steel up by 1.38%, Indusind Bank up by 1.25% and Tata Motors up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.95%, Adani Ports down by 0.90%, ITC down by 0.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inched up to 3.65 per cent in August 2024, though vegetables and pulses witnessed price rise in double digits. However, the retail inflation remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) median target of 4 per cent for the second month in a row. It was at a five-year low of 3.6 per cent in July. The headline inflation was 6.83 per cent in August 2023. Year-on-year inflation rate (3.65 per cent) based on All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of August, 2024, is second lowest in the last five years. Inflation in the food basket was 5.66 per cent in August, marginally up from 5.42 per cent in July.

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in August 2024 stood at 4.16 per cent over 4.10 per cent in July 2024. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 3.14 per cent in August as against 3.03 per cent in July. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 195.4, 190.3 and 193.0 respectively, in August 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 August 2024, NSO collected prices from 100.0% villages and 98.6% urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 88.3% for rural and 92.4% for urban.

According the data, the inflation rate for vegetables grew 10.71 per cent in August as against 6.83 per cent in the previous month. This can be attributed to concerns over erratic monsoon rains that could impact crop yields and push prices higher in the future. For pulses and cereals, the inflation rate stood at 13.60 per cent and 7.31 per cent, respectively. The inflation rate for fruits came in at 6.45 per cent. For milk and milk products, the inflation rate was 2.98 per cent in August. The inflation rate for meat and fish, egg segments were recorded at 4.30 per cent and 7.14 per cent, respectively. The Fuel and light inflation rate for August stood at (-)5.31 per cent as against a (-)3.66 per cent in July. For clothing & footwear and housing sectors, the inflation rates were 2.72 per cent and 2.66 per cent, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25374.05, down by 14.85 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 25292.45 and 25430.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.19%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.68%, Tata Steel up by 1.42%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.36% and Indusind Bank up by 1.29%. On the flip side, SBI Life down by 1.12%, HDFC Life down by 1.07%, Asian Paints down by 1.01%, ITC down by 0.97% and Tata Consumer down by 0.97% were the top losers.  

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 181.33 points or 1.04% to 17,421.72, Straits Times rose 7.88 points or 0.22% to 3,564.41, KOSPI increased 3.26 points or 0.13% to 2,575.35 and Taiwan Weighted added 75.57 points or 0.35% to 21,728.82. However, Jakarta Composite plunged 2.55 points or 0.03% to 7,795.60, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.52 points or 0.02% to 2,716.60 and Nikkei 225 slipped 211.07 points or 0.58% to 36,622.20.