Bourses extend losses in early afternoon session

Indian markets extended their losses in early afternoon session amid persistent foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,425.75 crore on Wednesday. Traders were cautious ahead of India’s industrial production data, which is due on September 29. Investors overlooked the report that commerce ministry has said that India and Australia have signed an agreement to facilitate trade of organic products including wine and agri produce in each other's countries. Under the mutual recognition arrangements (MRA), both will recognise each other's organic standards and certification systems. Sector wise, agriculture sector remained in limelight as 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.  On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red following the negative cues from Wall Street overnight.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81530.22, down by 185.41 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 81407.38 and 81840.73. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.15%, while Small cap index was down by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.55%, Metal up by 0.49%, Telecom up by 0.43%, PSU up by 0.33% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.29%, while Realty down by 1.00%, Consumer Disc down by 0.74%, Consumer Durables down by 0.66%, Auto down by 0.62% and IT was down by 0.44% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.36%, Axis Bank up by 1.01%, Sun Pharma up by 0.92%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.46% and SBI up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.79%, Asian Paints down by 2.23%, Trent down by 1.81%, TCS down by 1.45% and HCL Tech down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has sought urgent relief measures for the sector, which has been severely impacted by the recent 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US. It stated that the resumption of India-US trade discussions is encouraging, but the immediate introduction of relief measures to help the sector survive and sustain employment is essential as the talks may take time to conclude. 

The Council requested interventions to help the sector survive and sustain employment until the ongoing India-US trade negotiations are concluded. These included measures such as allowing reverse job work and Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) sales by Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units, extending export obligation periods for the US shipments, providing an interest moratorium on packing credit and working capital loans, and offering liquidity support to exporters. The delegation also requested that the India Jewellery Park be recognised as an industrial park and included in the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure, so it can avail all benefits applicable to industrial parks.  

GJEPC Chairman Kirit Bhansali said ‘we have requested allowing SEZ units to undertake reverse job work and DTA sales to keep factories and artisans engaged, extending export obligation periods for the US shipments, and providing an interest moratorium on packing credit and working capital loans to ease financial stress.’ He said these measures will not only help safeguard jobs but also support the competitiveness of Indian exporters during this challenging period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24987.35, down by 69.55 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 24965.10 and 25092.70. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.41%, Hindalco up by 1.22%, Axis Bank up by 1.02%, Sun Pharma up by 0.90% and ONGC up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.82%, Asian Paints down by 2.26%, Trent down by 1.87%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.58% and Shriram Finance down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 172.88 points or 0.66% to 26,023.85, Jakarta Composite plunged 43.65 points or 0.54% to 8,082.91, Hang Seng declined 24.65 points or 0.09% to 26,494.00, Straits Times fell 8.86 points or 0.21% to 4,281.54 and KOSPI was down by 1.03 points or 0.03% to 3,471.11. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite strengthened 1.15 points or 0.03% to 3,854.79 and Nikkei 225 was up by 98.69 points or 0.22% to 45,729.00.