Bourses add losses in early afternoon session

Indian markets added more looses and traded deep in red in early afternoon session following negative cues from other Asian markets. Investors were cautious ahead of US President Donald Trump's tariff deadline and U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week. U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates at next week's policy meeting. Domestic 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.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as US President Donald Trump has now reworded his threat stating that imports into the US could face tariffs ranging from 15 to 50 per cent for countries that fail to sign a suitable deal past the August 1 deadline.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81458.44, down by 725.73 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 81440.56 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 declined 1.36%, while Small cap index was down by 1.69%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Power down by 1.83%, Capital Goods down by 1.79%, Utilities down by 1.71%, PSU down by 1.68% and Metal was down by 1.63%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 0.13%, Sun Pharma up by 0.05% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 4.38%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.45%, Infosys down by 2.13%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.82% and Power Grid down by 1.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has unveiled the long-awaited National Cooperation Policy, aimed at driving the cooperative sector to contribute three times more to the country’s GDP by 2034, supporting India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. He announced ambitious plans to create a comprehensive cooperative ecosystem that will expand into emerging sectors like tourism, taxi services, insurance and green energy. He assured that government has made a proper plan to achieve the target. The policy specifically targets entry into tourism, taxi services, insurance, green energy and other sectors to enhance diversification and increase member incomes.

Minister highlighted that strengthening foundation, promoting vibrancy, making cooperatives future-ready, promoting inclusivity and deepening reach, entering new and emerging sectors, and shaping the young generation for cooperative growth are the six strategic pillars through which the policy will be implemented. He pointed that the welfare of each cooperative member, with plans to transform cooperative enterprises into professionally managed, transparent, technology-enabled, vibrant and responsive economic entities are central focus of the policy. Besides, he outlined plans to bring 50 crore people who are currently not active members or non-members into the cooperative fold. The government aims to increase membership by 30 per cent from the current 8.3 lakh, with a primary cooperative unit to be established in every panchayat.

The policy was developed after extensive consultations, with the 48-member committee receiving around 750 suggestions from stakeholders. The final framework was prepared in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India and NABARD. He also outlined the policy’s vision to establish five model cooperative villages in every tehsil across the country through state cooperative banks. Further, in order to maintain policy relevance and effectiveness, the government has put in place a review system that mandates necessary legal amendments every decade, creating a framework for continuous adaptation to changing socio-economic conditions in rural India. Linking the cooperative sector to India’s broader economic ambitions, he expressed confidence that the country which the world’s fourth-largest economy currently, will reach the third position and eventually become a developed economy by 2047. He added that when all states implement this policy diligently, it will lead to the creation of an inclusive, self-reliant, and future-ready model, which will give a new shape to the country’s cooperative system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24824.55, down by 237.55 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 24811.65 and 25010.35. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life up by 2.44%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.99%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.86%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.42% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 4.63%, Bajaj Finance down by 4.44%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.39%, Indusind Bank down by 2.77% and Bajaj Auto down by 2.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 359.34 points or 0.87% to 41,467.00, Hang Seng declined 320.18 points or 1.25% to 25,347.00, Straits Times fell 12.87 points or 0.3% to 4,260.18, Shanghai Composite weakened 12.07 points or 0.33% to 3,593.66, Jakarta Composite plunged 10.62 points or 0.14% to 7,520.28 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 9.35 points or 0.04% to 23,364.38. On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 5.60 points or 0.18% to 3,196.05.