Sensex, Nifty continue to witness weakness in early noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to witness weakness in early afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders failed to get any sense of relief from a private report stating that led by a further easing in food price rises, the country’s consumer or retail inflation is likely to have cooled down to a near six-year low in April 2025. The report stated that this is expected to keep the retail inflation below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) four per cent medium-term target for three consecutive months.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as Malaysia's retail sales growth rebounded at the end of the first quarter. The data from the statistical office showed that the value of retail sales logged an annual growth of 6.6 percent in March, faster than the 5.7 percent gain in February. In January, the rate of expansion was 8.2 percent. Retail sales at non-specialized stores grew 6.5 percent from last year, and sales of other goods in specialized stores advanced by 7.3 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81540.29, down by 889.61 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 81336.04 and 82572.81. There were 5 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.52%, while Small cap index was up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.43%, Capital Goods up by 1.31%, Healthcare up by 1.23%, PSU up by 0.56% and Consumer Durables up by 0.39%, while TECK down by 1.60%, IT down by 1.51%, Realty down by 0.84%, Utilities down by 0.77% and FMCG down by 0.73% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.46%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.03%, Sun Pharma up by 0.83%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.74% and Titan up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.87%, Power Grid down by 2.65%, Eternal down by 2.31%, HCL down by 2.11% and TCS down by 1.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has not accepted the demand of the UK for inclusion of a 'data exclusivity' provision in the free trade agreement (FTA), announced on May 6, in a bid to protect the interests of the domestic generic drugs industry. During the negotiations, the UK had asked to include this provision in the trade pact. But India has not accepted that. There is no fear for the Indian generic industry from this agreement. The sector plays a key role in India's exports, which are also growing. 

Data exclusivity provides protection to the technical data generated by innovator companies to prove the usefulness of their products. In the pharmaceutical sector, drug companies generate data through expensive global clinical trials to prove the efficacy and safety of their new medicine. By gaining exclusive rights over this data, innovator companies can prevent their competitors from obtaining a marketing licence for low-cost versions during the tenure of this exclusivity.

Earlier, India had also rejected a similar demand from the four-nation EFTA bloc in their free trade agreement negotiations. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The pact was signed in March 2023 and will be implemented later this year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24712.75, down by 211.95 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 24634.90 and 24973.80. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 4.38%, JIO Financial up by 2.11%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.04%, Adani Ports up by 1.40% and Cipla up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.89%, Power Grid down by 2.67%, Eternal down by 2.16%, HCL Tech down by 2.14% and TCS down by 1.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite strengthened 8.03 points or 0.24% to 3,377.27, Straits Times rose 19.77 points or 0.51% to 3,895.93, Nikkei 225 surged 566.29 points or 1.48% to 38,210.55 and Taiwan Weighted added 200.6 points or 0.94% to 21,330.14, while KOSPI dropped 0.87 points or 0.03% to 2,606.46 and Hang Seng declined 349.07 points or 1.48% to 23,200.39.