Key gauges continue to trade lower in late afternoon

The key gauges continued to trade lower in late afternoon session as traders opted to book some profits following the yesterday’s rally. Besides, significant weakness in IT and TECK stocks such as TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech ad Bharti Airtel has weighed on Sensex and Nifty. However, the broader markets managed to hold their heads in green with BSE Small cap and BSE Mid cap gaining 0.73% and 0.14% respectively. 

On the global front, Asian equity markets are trading mostly in green amid signs of progress in US-China trade talks. European markets were trading higher after data from British Retail Consortium showed, UK retail sales grew strongly in April largely due to the timing of the Easter and good weather conditions. Total retail sales increased 7.0 percent on a yearly basis in April in contrast to the 4.0 percent decline in the same period last year. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81185.81, down by 1244.09 points or 1.51% after trading in a range of 81086.62 and 82572.81. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.14%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.10%, Capital Goods up by 0.95%, Healthcare up by 0.81%, Consumer Durables up by 0.12% and PSU up by 0.08% , while TECK down by 2.29%, IT down by 2.13%, Utilities down by 1.44%, Telecom down by 1.21% and FMCG down by 1.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Industries up by 0.65%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.60%, Adani Ports up by 0.55%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.09% and Titan Company up by 0.06%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 3.35%, Infosys down by 3.26%, Eternal down by 3.21%, TCS down by 2.96% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in its latest release has said that India’s major ports have consistently demonstrated remarkable progress over the past decade, with FY 2024-25 emerging as a milestone year in terms of cargo handling, operational efficiency, and infrastructure modernisation.

It noted that in FY 2024-25, major ports registered an impressive annual growth rate of 4.3% in cargo handling, increasing from 819 million tonnes in FY 2023-24 to around 855 million tonnes in FY 2024-25. This growth highlights the resilience and capacity of major ports in accommodating rising trade volumes. The increase in traffic was driven by higher container throughput (10%), fertilizer cargo handling (13%), POL cargo handling (3%), and handling of miscellaneous commodities (31%) compared to the previous fiscal year.

Among commodities handled at major ports, petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) - including crude, petroleum products, and LPG/LNG - led the charts with a volume of 254.5 million tonnes (29.8%), followed by container traffic at 193.5 million tonnes (22.6%), coal at 186.6 million tonnes (21.8%), and other cargo categories such as iron ore, pellets, fertilizers, and more in FY 2024-25.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24614.85, down by 309.85 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 24560.70 and 24973.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 3.95%, JIO Financial Services up by 1.88%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.26%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 1.17% and Sun Pharma Industries up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation of India down by 3.27%, Infosys down by 3.26%, Eternal down by 2.99%, TCS down by 2.86% and HCL Technologies down by 2.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; KOSPI increased 1.09 points or 0.04% to 2,608.42, Nikkei 225 surged 539 points or 1.41% to 38,183.26, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.63 points or 0.17% to 3,374.87, Straits Times rose 8.11 points or 0.21% to 3,884.27 and Taiwan Weighted added 200.6 points or 0.94% to 21,330.14, while Hang Seng declined 441.19 points or 1.91% to 23,108.27.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 3.6 points or 0.04% to 8,608.58, France’s CAC rose 14.46 points or 0.18% to 7,864.56 and Germany’s DAX gained 26.37 points or 0.11% to 23,592.91.