Benchmarks continue weak trade in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in morning session, dragged down by Utilities, Power and Capital Goods stocks and persistent foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,133.69 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. A weak trend in Asian markets also dented investors' sentiments. Traders overlooked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is truly a game changer in trade, investment and services sectors. He said it was ‘remarkable’ that a journey which started over two decades ago culminated with a historic prime ministerial visit and in a very ‘fair, equitable and balanced agreement’ that ensures the possibility to double India-UK trade to $120 billion in the next five years. Sector-wise, stocks related to airline sector remained in watch as data showed Indian airlines carried more than 1.36 crore passengers in June, higher than the year-ago period. The number of passengers flown by the carriers was 3 per cent more in June compared to 1.32 crore in May. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red with sentiments weighed by strong US jobs data that saw investors row back their expectations for interest rate cuts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81644.14, down by 540.03 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 81539.97 and 82069.51. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.94%, while Small cap index was down by 1.33%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities down by 1.48%, Power down by 1.46%, Capital Goods down by 1.44%, Oil & Gas down by 1.35% and Industrials down by 1.31%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The few gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 0.30%, Sun Pharma up by 0.29% and TCS up by 0.15%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.32%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.25%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.90%, Eternal down by 1.60% and Tata Motors down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government will come up with norms for 27 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the end of August. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the higher 20 per cent ethanol-blended petrol in 2023. Gadari said ‘India has already achieved its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending. In Brazil, the ethanol blend in gasoline is 27 per cent.’ Currently, automobile engines can run on E20 with minor modifications in engines for corrosion, etc.

He stated ‘Presently, India does not have standard norms for the E27 fuel…the norms for E27 will be finalised before August end. India is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs. Moreover, he stated 11 automobile companies have manufactured vehicles which run on flex-fuel engines. 

Besides, He said India is food surplus and there is a need to protect the interests of farmers. Use of ethanol, extracted from sugarcane as well as broken rice and other agri produce, will help India - the world’s third largest oil consumer - bring down its reliance on overseas shipments. The target of achieving an average 10 per cent blending was achieved in June 2022, much ahead of the target date of November 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24874.90, down by 187.20 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 24844.45 and 25010.35. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 2.00%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.41%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.32% and Sun Pharma up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.37%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.24%, Shriram Finance down by 3.86%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.73% and Hero MotoCorp down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 399.34 points or 0.95% to 41,427.00, Hang Seng declined 306.18 points or 1.21% to 25,361.00, Straits Times fell 20.89 points or 0.49% to 4,252.16, Jakarta Composite plunged 10.62 points or 0.14% to 7,520.28 and Shanghai Composite weakened 12.35 points or 0.34% to 3,593.38.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted added 20.25 points or 0.09% to 23,393.98 and KOSPI increased 4.22 points or 0.13% to 3,194.67.