Bourses reel under pressure in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued to reel under pressure in late afternoon session as losses in metal sectors stocks. Investors maintained risk-averse approach ahead of the outcome of the two-day Federal Reserve meet later today. Traders overlooked the report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Lok Sabha on December 17 that the government believes the GDP growth slowdown in Q2FY25 ‘is a temporary blip’ and that an improvement will be seen in coming quarters. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as all eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to deliver a 25-basis-point interest rate cut, but the focus will be on the extent of rate reductions projected for 2025. European markets were trading higher as Bank of Japan and Bank of England are also holding their final policy meetings of 2024 this week, with both expected to leave their key policy rates unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80189.83, down by 494.62 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 80050.07 and 80868.02. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.64%, while Small cap index was down by 0.69%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.69%, IT up by 0.11% and FMCG was up by 0.01%, while Utilities down by 2.08%, PSU down by 1.93%, Power down by 1.87%, Capital Goods down by 1.57% and Metal was down by 1.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 0.75%, Reliance Industries up by 0.75%, TCS up by 0.48%, HCL Tech up by 0.47% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.86%, Power Grid down by 2.59%, NTPC down by 2.38%, JSW Steel down by 1.99% and ICICI Bank down by 1.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting India’s remarkable growth in renewable energy, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi has said that India is not only witnessing an energy revolution but also becoming the renewable energy capital of the world. The Minister further said that India is one of the world’s most promising nations in the clean energy space currently under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Joshi further noted that between April and November of the current financial year, India added nearly 15 GW of renewable energy capacity, almost double the 7.54 GW added during the same period last year. He further highlighted that India’s total installed capacity in the non-fossil fuel energy sector has reached 214 GW, marking an increase of over 14% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, he pointed out that 2.3 GW of new capacity was added in November 2024 alone, reflecting a four-fold increase from the 566 MW added in November 2023.

The Minister reiterated Union Government’s commitment to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030. Despite having one of the largest coal resources globally, India maintains one of the lowest per capita emissions, at one-third of the global average. The Minister highlighted that India is the only G20 nation to have ensured that the Sustainable Development Goals made at the Paris Climate Change Summit in 2015 were fulfilled even before the deadline. The Minister said that the ongoing transformation of India’s energy sector is driven by a strong belief that achieving a Viksit Bharat by 2047 is intrinsically linked to sustainable and green growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24196.65, down by 139.35 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 24149.85 and 24394.45. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.31%, Trent up by 2.30%, Cipla up by 1.82%, Wipro up by 1.33% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.89%, Power Grid Corp down by 2.52%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.51%, NTPC down by 2.41% and Shriram Finance down by 2.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 164.07 points or 0.83% to 19,864.55, Taiwan Weighted added 150.66 points or 0.65% to 23,168.67, KOSPI increased 27.62 points or 1.11% to 2,484.43 and Shanghai Composite was up by 20.72 points or 0.61% to 3,382.21. On the flip side. Straits Times fell 17.89 points or 0.47% to 3,782.04, Jakarta Composite plunged 28.16 points or 0.39% to 7,129.57 and Nikkei 225 was down by 282.97 points or 0.72% to 39,081.71.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.88 points or 0.16% to 8,208.08, France’s CAC rose 4.87 points or 0.07% to 7,370.57 and Germany’s DAX was up by 28.96 points or 0.14% to 20,275.33.