Bourses trade near day’s low levels in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded near day’s low levels in late afternoon session amid volatile global market conditions and a lack of domestic triggers. Investors turned their focus towards 54th GST Council meeting. Sector wise, Automobile industry remained in focus as Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest data has showed that passenger vehicle retail sales in India witnessed a 5 per cent on-year decline in August 2024 on account of delayed customer purchases, poor consumer sentiment and persistent heavy rains. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors digested weak U.S. manufacturing data and waited for more U.S. data this week, including Friday's all-important jobs report for directional cues. European markets were trading mostly in green after official data revealed Germany's factory orders grew unexpectedly in July largely due to the surge in demand for transport equipment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 82214.37, down by 138.27 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 82175.53 and 82617.49. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.96%, Consumer Durables up by 0.85%, Healthcare up by 0.64%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.60% and Basic Materials was up by 0.50%, while Realty down by 0.76%, Capital Goods down by 0.37%, Industrials down by 0.22%, Utilities down by 0.13% and Energy was down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan up by 3.08%, ITC up by 0.70%, SBI up by 0.42%, Tata Steel up by 0.33% and Axis Bank up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.32%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.05%, Reliance Industries down by 0.79%, Tata Motors down by 0.79% and Indusind Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing need to increase women participation in the labour force as India's data is lower than global average, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that India's growth story remains intact. He noted that the central bank’s 7.2 percent GDP growth projection for FY25 is not out of place and structural drivers are playing a bigger role in macroeconomic outcome. 

RBI Governor further said that data shows fundamentals of growth drivers are gaining momentum, pointing out that the headline growth dipped because of lower government expenditure at central and state levels due to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to him, the expenditure of both the Centre and the state governments would pick up pace in line with respective budget estimates.

While calling the corporate sector to come forward to step up their current investments in the backdrop of visible signs of such private investments in the country, Das said that the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and reforms in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) have yielded long-term positive outcomes. He also added that the country now needs reforms in land, labour and agri market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25157.15, down by 41.55 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 25147.85 and 25275.45. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan Company up by 3.20%, LTIMindtree up by 1.20%, BPCL up by 1.09%, Wipro up by 1.09% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.36%, Cipla down by 1.33%, Britannia down by 1.32%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.16% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 94.96 points or 0.45% to 21,187.71, Jakarta Composite gained 18.61 points or 0.24% to 7,691.51, Straits Times rose 12.63 points or 0.37% to 3,454.01 and Shanghai Composite was up by 4.03 points or 0.14% to 2,788.31. On the flip side, KOSPI dropped 5.30 points or 0.21% to 2,575.50, Hang Seng declined 13.04 points or 0.07% to 17,444.30 and Nikkei 225 was down by 390.52 points or 1.07% to 36,657.09.

European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX gained 20.18 points or 0.11% to 18,612.03 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 14.18 points or 0.17% to 8,283.78. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 20.03 points or 0.27% to 7,480.94.