Domestic equities continue to trade in red in afternoon session

Domestic equity markets continued to trade in red in afternoon session on account of selling in Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance and Indusind Bank. Foreign fund outflows dented domestic sentiments. On October 14, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,731.59 crore. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as retail inflation in Sep hit 9-month high of 5.49%. On the sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions in Industrials, Telecom, FMCG, Capital Goods and Healthcare, while selling was witnessed in Auto, Metal, Consumer Discretionary, IT and Power. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from the US markets overnight. Back home, in the stock specific development, Angel One surged after the company reported a healthy 44 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 423.4 crore in September quarter (Q2FY25). 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81810.79, down by 162.26 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 81636.67 and 82300.44. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.41%, Telecom up by 0.27%, FMCG up by 0.25%, Capital Goods up by 0.23% and Healthcare up by 0.23%, while Auto down by 1.06%, Metal down by 0.81%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.40%, IT down by 0.30% and Power down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.59%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.52%, ICICI Bank up by 1.43%, Adani Ports up by 0.64% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.70%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.58%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.53%, Indusind Bank down by 1.50% and Reliance Industries down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after remaining within the Reserve Bank of India's median target of 4 per cent during July and August, India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based -- retail inflation jumped to a nine-month high of 5.49 per cent in September 2024 from 3.65 per cent in August 2024, with soaring vegetable prices. The CPI was 5.02 per in September 2023. The previous high inflation rate was witnessed in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent. The inflation rate in the food basket rose to 9.24 per cent in September compared to 5.66 per cent in August and 6.62 per cent in the year-ago month. The National Statistical Office (NSO) said it is likely that the increase in inflation rate for the month of September 2024 is due to high base effect and weather conditions. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which kept the key short-term lending rate unchanged earlier this month, has been asked by the government to ensure the CPI inflation rate remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

The NSO, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in September 2024 stood at 5.87 per cent over 4.16 per cent in August 2024. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 5.05 per cent in September as against 3.14 per cent in August. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 196.7, 191.4 and 194.2 respectively, in September 2024. The price data is collected from selected 1114 urban Markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster. During the month of September 2024, NSO collected prices from 99.7% villages and 98.6% urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 88.2% for rural and 92.2% for urban. 

The surge in food and beverages inflation in September 2024 vis-a-vis August 2024 was largely led by vegetable inflation, which surged to a 14-month high of 35.99 per cent from 10.71 per cent in the previous month. Food and beverages, which accounts for 45.86 per cent of the total weight of Consumer Price Index (Combined), registered an inflation rate of 8.36 per cent in September, up from 5.30 per cent in August. Inflation rate for fruits rose to 7.65 per cent and from 6.45 per cent. For milk and milk products, the inflation rate was 3.03 per cent as against 2.98 per cent in August. The inflation rate for meat and fish, egg segments came down at 2.66 per cent and 6.31 per cent from 4.30 per cent and 7.14 per cent, respectively. The Fuel and light inflation rate for September stood at (-) 1.39 per cent as against (-) 5.31 per cent in August. For clothing & footwear and housing sectors, the inflation rates were 2.71 per cent and 2.78 per cent, respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 25068.55, down by 59.40 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 25014.10 and 25212.05. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.42%, Asian Paints up by 1.66%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.58%, ICICI Bank up by 1.45% and Britannia up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.69%, Wipro down by 2.39%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.61%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.59% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite gained 44.2 points or 0.58% to 7,603.86, Straits Times rose 9.46 points or 0.26% to 3,605.37, KOSPI increased 12.03 points or 0.46% to 2,635.32, Nikkei 225 surged 304.75 points or 0.76% to 39,910.55 and Taiwan Weighted added 316.75 points or 1.36% to 23,292.04. However, Hang Seng declined 561.44 points or 2.66% to 20,531.43 and Shanghai Composite weakened 51.98 points or 1.58% to 3,232.34.