Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in late morning deals amid escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Fresh exchanges of fire between the US and Iran near the Strait of Hormuz dampened investors' sentiment and heightened volatility across global markets. Foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in global markets further dented investors' sentiment. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 340.89 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Traders overlooked Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that despite facing unprecedented global challenges such as active warfare, broken supply chains, and rising protectionism, India's 6.6% GDP growth cements its status as the world's fastest-growing large economy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, amid renewed uncertainty and re-escalation of the Middle East conflict after Iran created a new agency to formalize its control over the Strait of Hormuz and reports of fresh clashes between the U.S. and Iran.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 77455.95, down by 388.57 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 77248.69 and 77647.44. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.84%, Healthcare up by 0.78%, TECK up by 0.44%, Consumer Durables up by 0.26% and Capital Goods up by 0.16%, while Bankex down by 0.80%, Oil & Gas down by 0.67%, Energy down by 0.64%, Metal down by 0.39% and Power down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.76%, Asian Paints up by 2.11%, HCL Technologies up by 1.06%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.05% and Infosys up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.68%, HDFC Bank down by 1.55%, Axis Bank down by 1.52%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.43% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.98% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that despite facing unprecedented global challenges such as active warfare, broken supply chains, and rising protectionism, India's 6.6% GDP growth cements its status as the world's fastest-growing large economy. He described India’s economy as strong but realistic, highlighting that the current growth rate is a significant achievement given the geopolitical shocks currently rattling the international order.
He stated ‘We are in the midst of conflicts, we are in the midst of war, we are in the midst of rising oil prices. Achieving 6.6% at this particular point in time is a very good record. We'll still be the fastest growing large economy in the world.’ He noted that the current global environment remains extraordinarily challenging due to protectionism, tariff barriers and lack of policy predictability, but India’s structural reforms and infrastructure development are poised to support long-term growth.
Further, he said ‘I'm saying over a three-decade period, as the situation normalises, it's important to understand that we are in the midst of very major conflicts across the world. Global supply chains are broken, there's protectionism, there's tariffs, it's an extraordinary situation. There's a lack of predictability and consistency of policies right now.’ Besides, highlighting the need for long-term energy security, Kant stated that India must speed up its pursuit of energy independence through renewable energy expansion, storage systems and clean technologies.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24222.40, down by 104.25 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 24138.40 and 24253.80. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.80%, Apollo Hospital up by 2.26%, Asian Paints up by 2.05%, Tata Consumer Product up by 1.80% and Nestle up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.64%, HDFC Bank down by 1.61%, Axis Bank down by 1.54%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.46% and Coal India down by 1.36% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 261.84 points or 0.42% to 62,572.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 305.56 points or 0.73% to 41,628.22, Jakarta Composite plunged 5.85 points or 0.08% to 7,168.47, Shanghai Composite weakened 4.15 points or 0.1% to 4,175.94, KOSPI dropped 1.81 points or 0.02% to 7,488.24, Hang Seng declined 300.28 points or 1.13% to 26,326.00 and Straits Times fell 28.49 points or 0.58% to 4,913.47.
