Sensex, Nifty off day’s lows in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses to come off from intraday low points during early afternoon deals, aided with buying at Realty and Healthcare counters. Traders got some relief, as the government launched the Credit Guarantee Scheme for e-NWR based Pledge Financing (CGS-NPF). This scheme provides a corpus of Rs 1,000-crore for post-harvest finance availed by farmers against electronic negotiable warehouse receipts (e-NWRs) after depositing commodities in Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) accredited warehouses.

However, trade remained in red, as expressing concerns over the decline in exports, exporters body FIEO urged the government to immediately take steps on the liquidity front and announce a higher rate of interest subvention support to improve shipments. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar said that the imposition of Rs 50 lakh per company cap in the interest equalisation scheme has hit many MSMEs, and they are unable to decide on order with non-availability of further subvention.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, even as Singapore's non-oil domestic exports rose unexpectedly in November after falling in the previous month. The data from Enterprise Singapore showed that non-oil domestic exports rose 3.4 percent year-over-year in November, reversing a 4.7 percent decrease in the previous month. Electronics exports grew 23.2 percent in November from last year, while non-electronics shipments contracted 1.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80934.40, down by 814.17 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 80718.66 and 81613.64. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.07% and Healthcare up by 0.06%, while Telecom down by 1.65%, Bankex down by 1.13%, Energy down by 0.95%, TECK down by 0.93% and Auto down by 0.92% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.73%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.64%, Tata Motors up by 0.40% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.08%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.79%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.62%, TCS down by 1.49%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.48% and Reliance Industries down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the country's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that India's circular economy could generate a market value of over $2 trillion and create 10 million jobs by 2050. He said the circular economy can be a driver of growth, and this transition not only promises cost savings but also positions India to capitalise on the global circular economy market. This is a huge opportunity because, by 2050, India's circular economy could generate a market value of over $2 trillion and create close to 10 million jobs. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is $3.7 trillion.

Noting that industrialisation and urbanisation are creating an unsustainable India, he said ‘we need circular economy as a beacon of hope'. The country's natural resources are depleted at an unsustainable pace, generating massive amounts of waste. While pointing out that India is generating about close to 1.6 lakh tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, he said this underscores the urgency to move towards a model that decouples economic growth from resource extraction.

Kant said ‘It will be impossible to live in India. It will be impossible to work in India...therefore, the circular economy offers a really compelling solution to the dilemma that India is facing due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation by keeping resources in use for as long as possible, extracting maximum value from them and regenerating natural systems.’ According to Kant, the circular model not only reduces waste and environmental harm but also creates new economic opportunities. He added that India's transition to circularity requires a deliberate and coordinated effort across sectors, and it has to be driven by innovation, R&D and robust policy intervention.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24410.65, down by 257.60 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 24359.25 and 24624.10. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 1.11%, ITC up by 0.55%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.52%, Apollo Hospital up by 0.39% and Tata Motors up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Shriram Finance down by 3.65%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.85%, Grasim Industries down by 2.06%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.80% and Hindalco down by 1.74% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined 77.93 points or 0.39% to 19,717.56, Jakarta Composite plunged 57.39 points or 0.79% to 7,201.24, Shanghai Composite weakened 25.54 points or 0.75% to 3,360.79, Straits Times fell 20.12 points or 0.53% to 3,800.91, KOSPI dropped 32.16 points or 1.31% to 2,456.81, Nikkei 225 slipped 92.81 points or 0.24% to 39,364.68 and Taiwan Weighted lost 21.89 points or 0.1% to 23,018.01.