Bourses trade near neutral lines with positive bias in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded near neutral lines with positive bias in late afternoon session. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded with healthy gains. Traders took note of report that the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas remained unchanged at 6.6 per cent in the April-June quarter (Q1FY25). On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors awaited cues from the FOMC meeting minutes along with speeches by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed speakers this week for additional clues on the rate trajectory. European markets were trading mostly in green after posting significant gains last week on the back of encouraging U.S. data releases.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80456.70, up by 19.86 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 80332.65 and 80724.40. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.53%, while Small cap index was up by 1.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.05%, Oil & Gas up by 1.79%, Energy up by 1.53%, Utilities up by 1.16% and PSU was up by 1.08%, while Auto down by 0.65%, Bankex down by 0.29%, Realty down by 0.04% and Capital Goods was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.74%, TCS up by 1.46%, NTPC up by 1.08%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.94% and Asian Paints up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.22%, Axis Bank down by 1.20%, Indusind Bank down by 1.03% and ICICI Bank down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that unilateral environmental measures such as the European Union's (EU) carbon tax do not reflect the principles of equity and hamper equitable world trade. He said the Global South countries are facing challenges both in terms of developing climate and sustainable development strategies and responding to unilateral measures such as CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism). The Global South countries include both developing and least developed nations (LDCs).

He said India has on different platforms raised its concerns over the EU's decision to impose carbon tax on certain sectors as it would hurt the country's exports. The country is in discussions with the EU on the subject. The EU has decided to impose a CBAM, or carbon tax, which will come into effect from January 1, 2026. Initially, it would be imposed on seven carbon-intensive sectors, including steel, cement, fertiliser, aluminium and hydrocarbon products.

The secretary also said that Global South countries need to increase cooperation in areas of food security and global value chains; address challenges faced by MSMEs and also the challenges posed by the current international trading system. He advocated for investments in advanced manufacturing while also nurturing a workforce with requisite skills to take up high end manufacturing as it is crucial for developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) to move up the value chain. On services exports, he said that developing countries account for 24 per cent of global services trade and LDCs share is only 0.61 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24578.95, up by 37.80 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 24522.95 and 24638.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.79%, Hindalco up by 3.70%, Shriram Finance up by 3.26%, Tata Steel up by 2.73% and Coal India up by 2.06%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.27%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.17%, Axis Bank down by 1.15%, SBI Life down by 1.06% and Indusind Bank down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 139.41 points or 0.79% to 17,569.57, Taiwan Weighted added 60.3 points or 0.27% to 22,409.63, Shanghai Composite strengthened 14.24 points or 0.49% to 2,893.67, Jakarta Composite gained 9.35 points or 0.13% to 7,441.44 and Straits Times was up by 6.14 points or 0.18% to 3,359.03. On the flip side, KOSPI dropped 22.87 points or 0.86% to 2,674.36 and Nikkei 225 was down by 674.05 points or 1.8% to 37,388.62.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 9.93 points or 0.13% to 7,459.63 and Germany’s DAX was up by 2.78 points or 0.02% to 18,325.18. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 13.5 points or 0.16% to 8,297.91.