Indices continue to witness weakness in late morning deals

Indian equity Indices continued to witness weakness in late morning deals as market participants reduced their positions. Rising crude oil prices in international markets weighed on domestic market sentiment. Crude oil prices rose amid fading hopes of a deal between the U.S. and Iran to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after President Donald Trump demanded compensation for damage the U.S. has incurred. Further, depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar also weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 9 paise to 95.39 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market.

Both Sensex and Nifty were trading lower, with cuts of over half a percent, on account of selling in index heavyweights -- Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI. On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen building positions in IT, Consumer Discretionary, Auto and Healthcare, while selling was witnessed in Power, Realty, Utilities, Capital Goods and Bankex. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, following negative cues from the US markets overnight.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78084.26, down by 458.18 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 78071.19 and 78509.77. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.26%, Consumer Disc up by 0.13%, Auto up by 0.12% and Healthcare up by 0.01%, while Power down by 0.83%, Realty down by 0.72%, Utilities down by 0.71%, Capital Goods down by 0.67% and Bankex down by 0.64% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 0.71%, HCL Technologies up by 0.70%, Infosys up by 0.33%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.32% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.28%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.95%, Interglobe Aviation down by 1.63%, Eternal down by 1.35%, Axis Bank down by 1.32% and Power Grid down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has showed that India’s job market remained largely stable in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal (Q1FY27), with both the unemployment rate and worker population ratio showing little year-on-year movement. The rate of unemployment, which measures the working-age population without jobs, stood at 5.5 per cent during the quarter, marginally lower than 5.6 per cent recorded a year earlier. The overall worker population ratio stood at 51.4 per cent in June 2026, unchanged from the previous month and slightly higher than the 51.2 per cent recorded in June 2025. The urban unemployment rate declined to 6.6 per cent in June 2026 from 7.1 per cent a year earlier, while rural unemployment remained broadly stable.  

The overall labour force participation rate (LFPR), which measures the working-age population engaged in jobs or actively looking for work, was unchanged at 54.4 per cent in June 2026 from the previous month and it was marginally higher than the 54.2 per cent recorded in June 2025. Female LFPR stood at 32.7 per cent in June 2026, slightly lower than 32.8 per cent in May 2026, but 0.7 percentage points higher than the 32.0 per cent recorded in June last year. The survey also found that the gender gap in rural labour force participation narrowed compared to urban areas.

In rural areas, female LFPR increased to 36.6 per cent in June 2026 from 35.2 per cent a year earlier, marking a rise of 1.4 percentage points. However, in urban areas, female participation moderated to 24.8 per cent from 25.2 per cent over the same period. The overall worker population ratio (WPR) in rural areas remained steady at 53.8 per cent, unchanged from the previous month and 0.5 percentage points higher than 53.3 per cent recorded in June last year.  Urban WPR also registered a marginal improvement, rising to 46.8 per cent in June 2026 from 46.6 per cent in the preceding month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24442.60, down by 141.20 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24437.55 and 24576.85. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 1.19%, Dr. Reddy's up by 1.02%, Titan Company up by 0.86%, Hindalco Industries up by 0.74% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer down by 2.39%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.10%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.76%, Max Healthcare down by 1.75% and Nestle India down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 212.97 points or 0.47% to 45,141.73, KOSPI increased 71.50 points or 1.13% to 6,371.16 and Straits Times rose 27.53 points or 0.48% to 5,725.96. However, Jakarta Composite plunged 55.46 points or 0.88% to 6,309.91, Shanghai Composite weakened 8.24 points or 0.21% to 3,958.35 and Hang Seng declined 165.49 points or 0.64% to 25,772.00.