Benchmarks extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, impacted by declines in Energy, Oil & Gas and Realty stocks. Relentless selling by foreign investors also dampened the sentiments in the equity markets. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 211.93 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Sentiments remained down-beat as the RBI stated that India's forex reserves dropped by $3.463 billion to $684.805 billion in the week ended October 25. The overall reserves had dropped by $2.163 billion to $688.267 billion in the previous reporting week. In end-September, the reserves had hit an all time high of $704.885 billion. Traders overlooked the government data showed that the gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in October rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 1,87,346 crore, the second-highest ever, on pick-up in domestic sales and improved compliance. In October 2023, the mop-up was at Rs 1.72 lakh crore. Sector-wise, coal stocks remained in watch as the Coal Ministry said coal production rose by 7.4 per cent to 84.45 MT in October compared to 78.57 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green despite investor caution was heightened due to the upcoming U.S. presidential election and the possibility of additional interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 78572.84, down by 1151.28 points or 1.44% after trading in a range of 78515.85 and 79713.14. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.50%, while Small cap index was down by 2.07%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy down by 3.16%, Oil & Gas down by 3.11%, Realty down by 2.64%, Power down by 2.57% and PSU down by 2.55%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.36%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.91% and Indusind Bank up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.06%, NTPC down by 3.65%, Reliance Industries down by 3.53%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 3.15% and Power Grid Corporation down by 2.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has exuded confidence that the country will export more than Rs 50,000 crore defence items by 2029-30, adding that the government is committed to collaborate with the academia for self-reliance in defence production.

Singh said government’s efforts of achieve self-reliance are yielding desired results as the defence exports, which were around just Rs 600 crore ten years ago, crossed a record number of Rs 21,000 crore in FY 2023-24. Highlighting the increasing role of technology in the defence ecosystem across the globe amidst ongoing conflicts, he that the use of drones, laser warfare, cyber warfare, precision guided missiles and hypersonic missiles has transformed warfare into a technology-oriented operation. 

Further, he stated ‘The biggest hurdle in achieving ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence is that we are compelled to import some high-end technologies necessary for our items. There is a need to focus on defence application of modern cutting-edge technologies in view of the changing nature of warfare.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23924.30, down by 380.05 points or 1.56% after trading in a range of 23910.05 and 24316.75. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.27%, Cipla up by 1.05%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.93%, Indusind Bank up by 0.48% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.93%, Sun Pharma down by 3.95%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.90%, BPCL down by 3.85% and NTPC down by 3.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 193.3 points or 0.85% to 22,973.38, Hang Seng advanced 7.54 points or 0.04% to 20,513.97, KOSPI increased 37.53 points or 1.48% to 2,579.89, Straits Times rose 22.55 points or 0.63% to 3,577.98 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 13.21 points or 0.4% to 3,285.22.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite plunged 65.98 points or 0.89% to 7,439.28.