Bourses continue to trade under selling pressure in early afternoon session

Indian markets continued to trade under selling pressure in early afternoon session as traders sold off their riskier stocks. Traders were cautious, amid reports that with U.S. President Donald Trump announcing trade deals with several countries, it remains uncertain whether the 26 percent reciprocal tariff announced for India will come into effect from August 1, or will this deadline be extended. Besides, HSBC flash composite output index posted 60.7 in July, down from 61.0 in June. However, the index remained well above its long-run average of 54.8. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher as Japan's private sector logged a steady growth in July as stronger growth in the service sector was offset by a fall in manufacturing output. The flash composite output index remained unchanged at 51.5 in July. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion in the sector.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82192.74, down by 533.90 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 82047.22 and 82784.24. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.44%, while Small cap index was down by 0.36%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.86%, Auto up by 0.11% and Metal was up by 0.08%, while IT down by 1.68%, TECK down by 1.33%, Realty down by 1.18%, Energy down by 0.93% and FMCG was down by 0.86% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 2.57%, Tata Motors up by 1.51%, Sun Pharma up by 0.48%, Tata Steel up by 0.31% and Titan Company up by 0.27%. On the flip side, Trent down by 3.41%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.76%, Reliance Industries down by 1.66%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.24% and Infosys down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the pace of national highways (NHs) construction in India slowed to 29 km/day in the last fiscal (FY25). He said the pace of national highways construction stood at 34 km/day during 2023-24. The highest-ever pace was recorded in 2020-21, when it reached 37 km per day. The ministry had constructed 10,660 km length of national highways in 2024-25, 12,349 km length of national highways in 2023-24 and 10,331 km length of national highways in 2022-23. 

The minister said all the NHs development projects, including development of access-controlled High Speed Corridors (HSC) / Expressways, are planned in line with PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) Principles. He said the government has constructed 10,660 km of NHs during the last Financial Year 2024-25. He noted that projects in 26,425 km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana, out of which 20,770 km have been constructed so far, including 2,967 km constructed during FY 2024-25. 

He further said that the government has decided to focus on the development of greenfield access-controlled HSCs / expressways for improving the logistics efficiency of the country. Accordingly, he said 26 greenfield corridors in about 7,500 km have been awarded and, additionally, about 600 km has already been approved. He said out of this, about 4,800 km has been constructed so far. Total 2,636 km length has already been operationalised and the remaining sections are planned to be operationalised in a phased manner in the next two years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25062.90, down by 157.00 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 25018.70 and 25246.25. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.82%, Eternal up by 2.65%, Tata Motors up by 1.59%, Tata Consumer up by 1.04% and JIO Financial up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 4.94%, Trent down by 3.33%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.62%, Shriram Finance down by 2.15% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.89% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading higher; Nikkei 225 surged 655.02 points or 1.57% to 41,826.34, Hang Seng advanced 119.93 points or 0.47% to 25,658.00, Jakarta Composite gained 83.58 points or 1.12% to 7,552.81, Taiwan Weighted added 55.06 points or 0.24% to 23,373.73, Straits Times rose 32.29 points or 0.76% to 4,263.57, Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.89 points or 0.64% to 3,605.19 and KOSPI was up by 6.68 points or 0.21% to 3,190.45.