Bourses continue to trade sluggish in early afternoon session

Indian markets continued to trade sluggish in early afternoon session ahead of monthly F&O expiry. Investors were worried with rising global geopolitical uncertainty. The United States entered the conflict between Israel and Iran over the weekend, with American warplanes and submarines targeting three Iranian facilities in Iran: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Traders ignored India’s positive flash PMI data. India’s flash PMI indicated strong growth in the month of June, as new export orders continued to fuel private sector business activity, especially in manufacturing. Besides, the combination of robust global demand and rising backlogs prompted manufacturers to increase hiring. Employment growth is also healthy in the services sector despite slightly weakening on a sequential basis from May to June.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as Japan's core inflation accelerated more than expected to a more than two-year high in May but headline inflation softened slightly. Core inflation that excludes prices of fresh food rose to 3.7% t from 3.5% in April. This was the fastest since January 2023. Inflation was seen at 3.6%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81823.83, down by 584.34 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 81476.76 and 81984.44. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.89%, Metal up by 0.68%, Basic Materials up by 0.35%, PSU up by 0.35% and Industrials was up by 0.25%, while IT down by 1.34%, TECK down by 1.00%, Auto down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.56% and FMCG was down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.77%, Trent up by 2.27%, Adani Ports up by 0.81%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.65% and Eternal up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.32%, HCL Tech down by 1.64%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.48%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.46% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Commerce & Industry in its latest data has showed that the output of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to 0.7 per cent, lowest in nine months, in May 2025 against 6.9 per cent in the same month last year. The previous low pace was recorded in August 2024 when the output had contracted by -1.5 per cent. In April this year, the growth in output of these key infrastructure sectors were recorded at 1 per cent. 

Coal production having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 2.8 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index increased by 3.1 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 6.7 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index increased by 5.5 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. 

Cement production having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 9.2 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index increased by 7.8 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 1.1 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024, while its cumulative index declined by 1.7 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.

Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight declined by 3.6 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index declined by 2.3 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight declined by 5.8 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index declined by 2.2 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. 

Crude Oil production having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 1.8 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index declined by 2.2 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63 per cent weight declined by 5.9 per cent in May, 2025 over May, 2024 and its cumulative index declined by 5.1 per cent during April to May, 2025-26 over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24948.85, down by 163.55 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 24824.85 and 24988.10. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.72%, Trent up by 2.35%, Hindalco up by 1.53%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.34% and Adani Ports up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.37%, HCL Tech down by 1.72%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.61%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.55% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 313.72 points or 1.44% to 21,732.02, Jakarta Composite plunged 121.11 points or 1.75% to 6,786.03, Nikkei 225 slipped 49.14 points or 0.13% to 38,354.09, Straits Times fell 15.77 points or 0.41% to 3,867.66 and KOSPI was down by 7.37 points or 0.24% to 3,014.47. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.82 points or 0.68% to 3,382.72 and Hang Seng was up by 125.31 points or 0.53% to 23,655.79.