Domestic indices remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in red in late morning deals on account of hectic selling in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Indusind Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv companies’ stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices were also trading in red with BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index falling in the range of 0.15-0.65%. Sentiments remained weak as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,485.70 crore on October 18, according to exchange data. Further, cautiousness also prevailed in the markets as the number of monthly fresh formal hirings saw a slowdown in August, signalling a downturn in the formal labour market. In August, the number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) decreased by nearly 11 per cent to 930,000. This is a four-month low from 1.05 million in July, according to the latest monthly payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). On the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up positions only in Auto and Realty, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, FMCG, TECK Metal and PSU. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as traders assessed China’s loan prime rate announcement, with focus also on Japan’s general election at the end of this week. China’s central bank cut the one- and five-year LPRs by 25 basis points to 3.1% and 3.6%, respectively. Back home, in the stock specific development, Tata Consumer shares slumped after the company reported a sluggish margin growth in the quarterly earnings for the second quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q2FY25).  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81128.75, down by 96.00 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 80811.23 and 81770.02. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.15%, while Small cap index down by 0.64%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.16% and Realty up by 0.08%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.09%, FMCG down by 1.05%, TECK down by 0.94%, Metal down by 0.94% and PSU down by 0.89% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 3.55%, Asian Paints up by 1.05%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.72%, Reliance Industries up by 0.52% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.47%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 5.50%, Indusind Bank down by 2.75%, Infosys down by 2.03%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.93% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the DoT's apex decision-making body Digital Communication Commission Member Manish Sinha has said that telecom sector revenue may cross Rs 5 trillion in the next two years in line with the present growth trend fuelled by ease of doing business measures introduced by the government in the last 2-3 years. He mooted the idea of relooking at current practices of spectrum allocation and working on new methodologies like dynamic spectrum allocation, and for shorter duration to enhance spectrum usage efficiency and derive its economic value.  

According to a report by sector regulator Trai, telecom service providers posted a gross revenue of Rs 3.36 trillion in the financial year 2024. Sinha said the telecom sector will touch Rs 4 trillion in gross revenue this year. He said that if there is a burst in revenue through any big innovation then probably it will put to rest the demand of fair share from the over-the-top applications. He noted that telecom operators have not been able to realise the full value of spectrum that they bought in old auctions and mooted an idea of allocating spectrum for a shorter duration instead of a long period of 10 or 20 years.

He said there are issues of spectrum utilisation, efficiency, and economic value that are rather changing the rationale on the way spectrum band needs to be allocated and the commercial terms on which allocation of spectrum needs to be done. He said ‘we need to evolve models to measure spectrum utilisation efficiency and spectrum economic value’. He noted that in 2010, when the first auction was held, all the spectrum that was allocated then has probably become valueless today. The auctions for 3G and wireless broadband access spectrum in 2010 had fetched the government around Rs 1 trillion. He added that spectrum bands are undergoing such transformation in terms of economic value in a span of 10-14 years. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24791.30, down by 62.75 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 24679.60 and 24978.30. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Bank up by 3.51%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.45%, Eicher Motors up by 1.64%, Asian Paints up by 1.00% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Tata Consumer down by 8.20%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 5.59%, BPCL down by 2.92%, Indusind Bank down by 2.81% and Infosys down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite gained 20.58 points or 0.26% to 7,780.64, Nikkei 225 surged 41.83 points or 0.11% to 39,023.58, KOSPI increased 16.38 points or 0.63% to 2,610.20 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 22.29 points or 0.68% to 3,283.85. However, Hang Seng declined 170.4 points or 0.83% to 20,633.71, Straits Times fell 17.88 points or 0.49% to 3,622.31 and Taiwan Weighted lost 2.58 points or 0.01% to 23,484.69.