Bourses trim some losses in early afternoon session

Indian markets trimmed some of their losses in early afternoon session and traded near neutral line with negative bias. Investors were closely watching US-India trade deal developments. Traders were cautious ahead of India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which going to be out tomorrow. Losses got trimmed as The Ministry of Statistics in its latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has showed that the unemployment rate (UR) in India among persons of age 15 years and above declined to 5.2 per cent in July-September this year from 5.4 per cent in the previous quarter of April-June. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite anticipated end of a U.S. government shutdown.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 83437.19, down by 98.16 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 83124.03 and 83726.51. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.26%, Capital Goods up by 0.82%, TECK up by 0.61%, Industrials up by 0.40% and IT was up by 0.30%, while Realty down by 0.61%, Healthcare down by 0.57%, Consumer Durables down by 0.47%, Utilities down by 0.25% and Basic Materials was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharat Electronics up by 2.20%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.38%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12%, HCL Tech up by 0.77% and Eternal up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.52%, Bajaj Finserv down by 7.11%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 1.42%, Reliance Industries down by 0.44% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Engineering exports promotion body EEPC India has called for the inclusion of key steel and aluminium products, primarily from MSMEs, in the ongoing bilateral trade agreement (BTA) negotiations with the United States (US). It also advocates maintenance of the current tariff structure in talks with the European Union. The group has formally raised the exporting community's concerns with the government's FTA negotiating teams.

EEPC India Chairman Pankaj Chadha stated that the 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US under Section 232 has significantly hampered engineering exports, making it imperative to address this issue in the BTA talks. He said ‘the 50 per cent tariff imposition by the US increases the tariff differential with our competitors to an average of 30 per cent. This definitely impacts our position in the US market’. He suggested a ‘special support package’ to absorb at least 15 per cent of this differential to help secure India's market position.

Regarding the EU, Chadha expressed concern over the bloc's new proposal to reduce quotas and increase out-of-quota tariffs to 50 per cent. He said that ‘the existing quota already poses a challenge for the exporters as our volumes are much higher. Our suggestion is to maintain the status quo in terms of both quota and the out-of-quota tariffs’. He further emphasised that this issue should be brought under the purview of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, with tariffs being phased out gradually once the pact is implemented.

On the specific issue of the EU's Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), the EEPC India chairman sought an exemption for stainless-steel long products, citing MSME dominance and strategic importance. For other product categories, the body recommended increasing quota volumes and ensuring that out-of-quota tariffs do not exceed 25 per cent, with a phased elimination over five to six years. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25557.10, down by 17.25 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 25449.25 and 25637.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.18%, Interglobe Aviation up by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.48%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.15% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.53%, Bajaj Finserv down by 6.91%, ONGC down by 1.65%, Tata Motors Passenger down by 1.41% and Apollo Hospital down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 270.76 points or 0.53% to 50,641.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 84.56 points or 0.3% to 27,784.95, Hang Seng declined 31.06 points or 0.12% to 26,618.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 21.03 points or 0.25% to 8,370.21 and Shanghai Composite was down by 15.84 points or 0.39% to 4,002.76. On the flip side, KOSPI increased 33.15 points or 0.81% to 4,106.39 and Straits Times was up by 48.99 points or 1.09% to 4,537.12.