Sensex, Nifty trade lower in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Wednesday following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight as well as weakness in Asian counterparts, as traders are cautious and reluctant to take positions ahead of the next week's U.S. presidential election and the US Fed's monetary policy decision. Concern about the tension in the Middle East is also weighing on the markets. Traders also looked ahead to a slew of U.S. economic data as well as tech megacap earnings for directional cues. Closer home, investors are eyeing India's manufacturing output data for September scheduled to be released today. Sensex and Nifty are trading lower in early deals with cut of 0.38% each. Some cautiousness came as Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas said that no one can predict fuel prices because of the uncertainty that has prevailed in different parts of the world citing tensions in the Middle East. However, downside remained capped as oil prices edged down on Tuesday, after a 6% tumble in the previous session, on a report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a meeting for a diplomatic solution to the war in Lebanon. 

On the sectoral front, auto stocks are in focus after Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, laid out a vision to transform India into the world’s top automobile hub within the next decade. In stock specific development, Kaynes Tech traded higher as Q2 net profit rises 87% to Rs 60 crore, while Welspun Enterprises fell after Q2 net profit declines 11% to Rs 62 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80067.18, down by 301.85 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 79981.96 and 80284.81. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 0.68%, Capital Goods up by 0.62%, Basic Materials up by 0.52%, FMCG up by 0.47% and Utilities up by 0.35%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.30%, Bankex down by 0.84%, Healthcare down by 0.50%, TECK down by 0.25% and Realty down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.70%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.06%, Tata Motors up by 0.59%, ITC up by 0.56% and Reliance Industries up by 0.26%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.58%, Sun Pharma down by 1.57%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.45%, Axis Bank down by 1.26% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas has said that no one can predict fuel prices because of the uncertainty that has prevailed in different parts of the world citing tensions in the Middle East. However, he hoped that the fuel prices would largely be stable, adding that there is no shortage of crude oil in the market. 

Union Minister said ‘No one can say with any certainty where the fuel prices would go because there are several global tension points. Especially the Middle East tension point, there is a calibrated tension point. All the parties involved in this will see reason and they will make sure that there is no escalation beyond a point. If my assessment is correct then fuel prices will remain stable…There is no shortage of crude oil in the world…’

He added ‘The most important point to note is there is no shortage of crude oil in the world. Brazil produces 3.3 million barrels a day. They are going to bring another 400 thousand barrels a day additional on the market. There is widespread expectation that the United States, which had paused some time ago on new contracts, they are going to be adding another one million barrels a day to their 13 million barrels new. More oil is coming on the market from Guyana, Suriname, and several other countries, so there’s no shortage of oil. Now if there’s no shortage of oil, it stands to reason that prices should not go up’.

He cited global factors such as the war in the Middle East and voluntary cuts in oil production which are influencing the oil prices in the global market. The Union Minister said many countries such as Brazil, and Guyana among others are coming with their oil. Citing the stable prices in the last 3 years, the minister said that the government is taking every possible step to ensure stable oil prices.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24374.75, down by 92.10 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 24337.60 and 24436.45. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.63%, Adani Enterprises up by 2.61%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.78%, Coal India up by 1.38% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.21%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.59%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.29%, Sun Pharma down by 1.58%, ICICI Bank down by 1.55% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 384.91 points or 1.86% to 20,316.23, Jakarta Composite plunged 61.86 points or 0.81% to 7,544.74, Straits Times fell 31.84 points or 0.89% to 3,558.52, Shanghai Composite weakened 28.36 points or 0.87% to 3,258.05, KOSPI dropped 27.46 points or 1.05% to 2,590.34 and Taiwan Weighted added 8.8 points or 0.04% to 22,935.39, while Nikkei 225 surged 414.59 points or 1.07% to 39,318.27.