Indices keep heads below neutral lines in late morning deals

Indian equity markets remained below their neutral lines in late morning deals on account of selling in Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Trent and Titan and TCS companies’ stocks. Weak cues from the global markets weighed on the domestic sentiments.  Traders overlooked report that the commerce ministry has said India and Australia have signed an agreement to facilitate trade of organic products including wine and agri produce in each other's countries. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen piling up positions in Capital Goods, Metal, Utilities, PSU and Telecom, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Auto, Consumer Disc, Consumer Durables and IT.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the negative cues from US markets overnight. Back home, in the stock specific development, Lupin gained after securing approval from the U.S. FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Bictegravir, Emtricitabine, and Tenofovir Alafenamide tablets.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81566.73, down by 148.90 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 81492.37 and 81840.73. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.06%, while Small cap index down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.69%, Metal up by 0.58%, Utilities up by 0.48%, PSU up by 0.46% and Telecom up by 0.41%, while Realty down by 0.88%, Auto down by 0.68%, Consumer Disc down by 0.59%, Consumer Durables down by 0.46% and IT down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.54%, Sun Pharma up by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.41%, Axis Bank up by 0.41% and HDFC Bank up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.04%, Asian Paints down by 1.73%, Trent down by 1.42%, Titan down by 1.13% and TCS down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has emphasized the need to increase the share of agriculture and allied sector in the GDP to at least 26 per cent from the present 18 per cent to make India self-reliant. He underscored the need to reduce the cost of production to make agriculture sector economically viable. On input cost front, he has called upon the farm equipment manufacturers to make electric as well as flex-engine tractors. Besides, he asked the agro-chemicals industry to focus on introducing affordable bio-pesticides and bio-insecticides products by undertaking intensive research & development (R&D) works. He suggested the industry to produce basic raw material in India and reduce import dependency to ensure the quality of the finished agro-chemicals.

Moreover, he has emphasized the importance of the agriculture sector in the economy saying, ‘the farm sector is the backbone of our country’. Highlighting the growth in the agriculture sector since independence, he said that India has become self-sufficient in foodgrain production. However, he noted that there is need to reduce the expenditure and capital cost and enhance the productivity. He added that there is a need for high-yielding seed varieties to boost crop yields and production.

Also, he noted that around 30 per cent of population migrated to urban cities from rural India since independence. He pointed out that if the agriculture sector remains economically viable and there are enough employment opportunities at village level, there would be no migration to urban cities. Further, he highlighted that the agro-chemicals sector is growing at a rapid pace and India has become the third largest exporter of agro-chemicals. Meanwhile, about introduction of genetically modified seeds, he stressed on the need to have unanimity on this issue among all stakeholders.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25031.25, down by 25.65 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 24999.50 and 25092.70. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.59%, Hindalco up by 1.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.00%, ONGC up by 0.84% and Sun Pharma up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.91%, Asian Paints down by 1.60%, Trent down by 1.52%, Titan down by 1.30% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 172.88 points or 0.66% to 26,023.85, Jakarta Composite plunged 50.78 points or 0.63% to 8,075.78, Shanghai Composite weakened 0.88 points or 0.02% to 3,852.76, KOSPI dropped 8.01 points or 0.23% to 3,464.13 and Straits Times fell 9.09 points or 0.21% to 4,281.31. However, Nikkei 225 surged 102.69 points or 0.22% to 45,733.00 and Hang Seng advanced 20.35 points or 0.08% to 26,539.00.