Bourses trade in red in late afternoon session

In volatile trading session, Indian equity markets wiped out their gains and entered into red in late afternoon session tracing other Asian markets. Investors overlooked private report that Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the sharp decline in the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in the September quarter is ‘not systemic’ and revealed that she expects it to pick up in the third quarter.  Finance minister expressed confidence that India's economic growth won't be badly affected despite reporting a seven-quarter low GDP of 5.4 percent. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with Chinese and Hong Kong markets outperforming ahead of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week. A cautious undertone prevailed ahead of a U.S. jobs report due later in the day that might shift expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. European markets were trading mostly in green as investors continued to monitor the latest political developments in France and South Korea.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81724.48, down by 41.38 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 81506.19 and 81925.91. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.40%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.33%, Metal up by 1.14%, Auto up by 0.97%, PSU up by 0.70% and Utilities was up by 0.68%, while TECK down by 0.49%, IT down by 0.26%, Realty down by 0.16% and Healthcare was down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.25%, Axis Bank up by 1.84%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.30%, Titan Company up by 1.26% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.00%, Infosys down by 0.96%, Adani Ports down by 0.96%, Asian Paints down by 0.92% and Indusind Bank down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that MSMEs are integral to large businesses and industrial growth, adding that the Government is willing to earmark areas to MSMEs in the 20 townships being built across the nation. Further noting that MSMEs are pivotal to supporting large industries in their ecosystem, the Minister said that he would speak to States to look at providing areas to MSMEs for developing their businesses in townships and industrial parks. He also added that MSMEs can be provided land at concessional rates to develop their businesses in the townships. 

On rising consumption patterns of the country, Goyal highlighted that India must become a developed nation on the back of sustainability. He said ‘We can’t encourage waste.’ Reiterating his stand, Goyal said that emerging and developing countries have to bear the brunt of the environmental degradation due to the developed countries who have been outsourcing their production to other nations. He said rather than blaming the manufacturer for the carbon emission, it is directly related to consumption. 

Goyal said countries with the ‘developed’ tag attained that status on the back of low-cost energy supplied by coal-based powerplants for over 100 years as they industrialized their economies. He also emphasized that India, whereas, has revered nature over the decades and has realized a circular economy far before than the developed countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24677.75, down by 30.65 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 24620.50 and 24751.05. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.31%, Tata Motors up by 1.99%, Axis Bank up by 1.86%, SBI Life up by 1.45% and BPCL up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.31%, Adani Ports down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.12%, Infosys down by 1.00% and Asian Paints down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 304.43 points or 0.78% to 39,091.17, Taiwan Weighted lost 74.67 points or 0.32% to 23,193.27, Straits Times fell 19.34 points or 0.51% to 3,803.34 and KOSPI was down by 13.69 points or 0.56% to 2,428.16. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite strengthened 35.22 points or 1.03% to 3,404.08, Jakarta Composite gained 67.5 points or 0.92% to 7,380.81 and Hang Seng was up by 305.41 points or 1.54% to 19,865.85.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 63.2 points or 0.86% to 7,393.74 and Germany’s DAX was up by 45.86 points or 0.23% to 20,404.66. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.13 points or 0.15% to 8,337.25.