Bourses remain lower in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in late afternoon session ahead of India's inflation (CPI) and industrial production (IIP) data, set to be released later today. The expiry of weekly derivatives contracts also kept markets sentiments downbeat. Traders took note of report that Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran underlined the need to be cautious about energy transition and said that it should be done without compromising growth. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid investors awaited the outcome of a key policy meeting in China, where leaders are expected to map out next year's economic priorities. European markets were trading higher as the Swiss National Bank cut its interest rate by 50 basis points, its biggest reduction in almost 10 years amid an ongoing tussle with depressed inflation and a strong Swiss franc. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81314.17, down by 211.97 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 81257.46 and 81680.97. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.53%, while Small cap index was down by 0.88%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.79%, IT up by 0.68% and Utilities was up by 0.17%, while FMCG down by 1.06%, PSU down by 0.93%, Capital Goods down by 0.84%, Energy down by 0.82% and Industrials was down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports up by 1.93%, Indusind Bank up by 1.63%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.48% and Infosys up by 1.06%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.82%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.63%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.50%, Tata Motors down by 1.38% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has underscored the need to differentiate between regulation of financial and non-financial sectors as competition in financial sector can lead to excessive risk taking and bring instability.  

He said in non-financial sector, except in case of natural utilities where one needs a regulator to protect customer interest, competition or market forces will take care of what the regulators do. In financial sector, regulators have the tendency to lean towards excessive regulations, as if things go wrong in this sector the state is expected to bail out and the effects are systemic. In financial sector, competition sometimes leads to excessive risk taking and competition can be a source of instability rather than stability, which is not the case for non-financial sector of the economy. And the manifestation or climaxing of that was the 2008 global financial crisis.

He nudged the private corporate sector to hire more and find the right balance between capital-intensive and labour-intensive growth, underling that while profits of listed companies, as a percentage of GDP, hit a 15-year high in 2023-24, their wage cost increase dwindled.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24560.55, down by 81.25 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 24543.05 and 24675.25. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 2.31%, Adani Ports up by 1.86%, Indusind Bank up by 1.63%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.50% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.34%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.83%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.58%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.09%, SBI Life down by 1.80% and Tata Consumer down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 476.91 points or 1.2% to 39,849.14, Hang Seng advanced 242 points or 1.19% to 20,397.05, Taiwan Weighted added 143.17 points or 0.62% to 23,046.80, KOSPI increased 39.61 points or 1.6% to 2,482.12, Shanghai Composite strengthened 29.01 points or 0.84% to 3,461.50 and Straits Times was up by 16.42 points or 0.43% to 3,809.24. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 74.93 points or 1% to 7,389.82.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.03 points or 0.19% to 8,317.65, France’s CAC rose 13.75 points or 0.19% to 7,437.15 and Germany’s DAX was up by 39.77 points or 0.19% to 20,438.93.