Benchmarks continue choppy trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their choppy trade in late afternoon session. The key gauges -- Sensex and Nifty managed to hold their neck higher but broader markets experienced downside pressure as the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel continue to weigh on investor’s sentiments. On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mostly in red. European equity markets were trading lower as speculation grew over a possible U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. 

Back home, on the sectoral front, oil marketing companies (OMCs) came under pressure amid increasing crude prices, which could sharply increase the input cost for the companies. IT stocks came under pressures dragging the NIFTY IT index down by 1.03% or 400.95 points to 38,629.95, amid Fed’s hawkish stance and inflation concern.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81464.59, up by 19.93 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 81191.04 and 81583.94. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slumped 1.44%, while Small cap index was down by 1.50%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE were Auto up by 0.48%, while Realty down by 1.33%, Utilities down by 1.23%, PSU down by 1.08%, Telecom down by 0.99% and IT down by 0.97% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.83%, Titan Company up by 0.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.64%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.56% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.36%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.04%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.33%, SBI down by 0.73% and Infosys down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Moody's Analytics in its latest report ‘AI is beating the odds’ has said that the developed and emerging economies in East and Southeast Asia are key targets for AI investments, with India, Singapore and Malaysia rapidly establishing themselves as prime destinations for data centre projects or chip manufacturing.

According to the report, even though trade and geopolitical tensions are knocking economies, soaring AI demand is outpacing supply. To close the gap, global investors are pouring capital into data centres and semiconductor projects.

Moody's Analytics further noted that the US share of outbound AI investment outpaces its inbound share, a sign that US tech giants are expanding their global footprint. Besides, it said that India’s growing economy and digital talent pool make it an attractive location for data centre providers and chip production.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24825.30, up by 13.25 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 24738.10 and 24863.10. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 2.28%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.81%, Eicher Motors up by 1.76%, Wipro up by 1.61% and Titan Company up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.34%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.01%, Indusind Bank down by 1.52%, Adani Enterprises down by 1.51% and Coal India down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 472.95 points or 2.04% to 23,237.74, Jakarta Composite plunged 134.62 points or 1.89% to 6,973.17, Nikkei 225 slipped 396.81 points or 1.03% to 38,488.34, Shanghai Composite weakened 26.7 points or 0.79% to 3,362.11, Straits Times fell 22.11 points or 0.56% to 3,898.70 and Taiwan Weighted lost 353.23 points or 1.61% to 22,003.50, while KOSPI increased 5.55 points or 0.19% to 2,977.74.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 33.75 points or 0.38% to 8,809.72, France’s CAC fell 61.52 points or 0.81% to 7,594.60 and Germany’s DAX lost 116.22 points or 0.5% to 23,201.59.