Weakness persists in markets during late afternoon deals

Benchmarks continued to trade deep in red during late-afternoon deals, as a rise in global crude oil prices sparked caution among investors. Brent crude oil prices traded around the $90 a barrel mark amid lingering uncertainty over reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Further, risk appetite remained subdued after BMI, a Fitch Group company, projected India’s growth to slow to 6.6% in the current fiscal as the boost to the economy from last year’s GST reforms wanes and elevated inflation erodes household incomes.

Both, Sensex and Nifty were trading half a percent lower weighed by weakness among large cap banking stocks and infra structure - related stocks. However, buying among IT and Jewellery stocks helped to cap the losses.

On global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed as trader took a cautious stance ahead of key U.S. inflation readings. European equity markets were trading lower as high crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78122.71, down by 419.73 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 78048.26 and 78509.77. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.37%, Healthcare up by 0.19%, Energy up by 0.18% and Oil & Gas up by 0.10%, while Realty down by 1.07%, Utilities down by 0.87%, Power down by 0.84%, FMCG down by 0.80% and Basic Materials down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Eternal up by 1.16%, Titan Company up by 1.02%, Infosys up by 0.47%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.38% and HCL Technologies up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.86%, Axis Bank down by 1.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.38%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.37% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that procurement orders placed by the Military Affairs Department through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) have crossed Rs 1.35 lakh crore, with defence accounting for nearly 15 per cent of the platform’s total procurement.

The minister said the annual procurement of goods and services by central and state government departments and agencies through GeM has now surpassed Rs 5 lakh crore. He added that the platform is currently undergoing a revamp, with IT major TCS executing the project.

He also said over the past decade, goods and services worth more than Rs 20 lakh crore have been procured through GeM. He added that the platform has also generated estimated savings of Rs 86,571 crore over the last three years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24443.25, down by 140.55 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24429.25 and 24576.85. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 3.63%, Eternal up by 1.53%, TCS up by 0.59%, Titan Company up by 0.45% and Infosys up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Max Healthcare Institute down by 2.73%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.43%, Tata Consumer Products down by 2.25%, JSW Steel down by 1.87% and Nestle India down by 1.85% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 191.96 points or 0.43% to 45,120.72, KOSPI increased 45.87 points or 0.72% to 6,345.53 and Straits Times rose 44.71 points or 0.78% to 5,743.14, while Hang Seng declined 266.49 points or 1.04% to 25,671.00, Jakarta Composite plunged 129.21 points or 2.07% to 6,236.16 and Shanghai Composite weakened 32.5 points or 0.83% to 3,934.09. Meanwhile, Japanese market was closed on account of national public holiday.

European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 29.58 points or 0.27% to 10,832.92, France’s CAC fell 25.73 points or 0.3% to 8,700.30 and Germany’s DAX lost 64.68 points or 0.25% to 26,259.20.