Markets continue to trade on lower during late afternoon deals

Benchmarks continued to trade lower in afternoon session as surge in global crude oil prices sparked caution among investors. The Brent crude oil prices surged past $96 a barrel mark amid escalating tension in West Asia after United States launched strikes against three Iranian tankers, in retaliation to Iran's ballistic missiles attack on United States’ warships. Besides, selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) weighed on market risk sentiments. FIIs were the net sellers on Friday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 3,111.94 crore. Meanwhile, IT stocks came under pressure with BSE IT index declining 2.21% as stronger that expected US Jobs data raised expectation of interest hike by US Federal Reserve. Major IT companies derives their income from clients base in US and higher US interest rates could curb client spending.

On the global front, Asian equity markets were trading mixed amid renewed optimism in artificial intelligence infrastructure demand and Middle East tensions. European equity markets were trading mostly in red as rise in crude oil prices fuelled expectations of interest rate hike by European Central Bank.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76101.79, down by 413.64 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 75980.69 and 76477.19. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.62%, Healthcare up by 0.56%, Auto up by 0.11% and Industrials up by 0.09%, while IT down by 2.21%, Metal down by 1.37%, Realty down by 1.33%, TECK down by 1.31% and Basic Materials down by 0.77% were the losing top indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 0.73%, Maruti Suzuki India up by 0.64%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.62%, ICICI Bank up by 0.35% and Interglobe Aviation up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.66%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.79%, HCL Technologies down by 2.30%, Tata Steel down by 1.96% and TCS down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has highlighted the transformative opportunities offered by the India- European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for businesses and stakeholders across India and Europe, noting that the agreement would benefit farmers, fishermen, MSMEs, small industries, innovators, startups, women entrepreneurs, manufacturers and service providers. He said the agreement had been deftly negotiated while protecting sensitive sectors on both sides.

Goyal said the India-EU FTA, which was in the making for 25 years before negotiations were concluded under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brings together 2 billion people, representing a quarter of global GDP, a third of world trade and a market of $24 trillion. He said all 27 EU countries were on board, supportive and desirous of concluding the formalities and bringing the agreement into force at the earliest. 

The minister further highlighted India’s expanding economic and technological capabilities and said that the Indian story had just begun. He noted that India is a $4 trillion economy today on a purchasing power parity basis and is already the world’s third-largest economy with a $20 trillion GDP on a PPP basis. He said the stated goal and collective commitment of 1.4 billion Indians was to take the $4 trillion economy to a $30 trillion economy by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of independence.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23774.25, down by 123.45 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 23738.70 and 23890.00. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital Enterprise up by 1.70%, Eicher Motors up by 1.09%, Tata Consumer Products up by 0.89%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.75% and Maruti Suzuki India up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.69%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.49%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.23%, Wipro down by 2.09% and Tata Steel down by 2.04% were the top losers.

Asian equity markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 1194.06 points or 1.8% to 66,215.00, Taiwan Weighted added 775.14 points or 1.64% to 47,326.27, KOSPI increased 308.18 points or 4.41% to 6,995.39 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 2.58 points or 0.07% to 3,932.70, while Hang Seng declined 256.87 points or 1.01% to 25,394.00, Straits Times fell 9.21 points or 0.16% to 5,792.75 and Jakarta Composite plunged 12.59 points or 0.19% to 6,623.89.

European equity markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 10.11 points or 0.09% to 10,820.98 and Germany’s DAX lost 58 points or 0.22% to 25,988.40, while France’s CAC rose 4.73 points or 0.06% to 8,283.50.