Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, dragged down by losses in Telecom and Industrials stocks amid muted global market trends. Also, the continuous foreign fund outflows added to the markets' decline. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,758.49 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Traders remained cautious as the RBI said India's forex reserves dropped by $1.88 billion to $623.983 billion in the week ended January 17. On the sectoral front, auto stocks remained in watch as SIAM data showed automobile exports from India rose 19 per cent year-on-year in 2024 led by a robust dispatch of two-wheelers, passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, the commerce and industry ministry said the procurement of goods and services through government's portal GeM rose by about 50 per cent to over Rs 4 lakh crore during April-January this fiscal due to higher buying activities by various ministries and departments. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed as Chinese industrial profits and manufacturing data disappointed, and the U.S. and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75445.25, down by 745.21 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 75409.37 and 75925.72. 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 2.81%, while Small cap index was down by 4.15%.
The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials down by 3.17%, Telecom down by 3.12%, Healthcare down by 2.77%, Power down by 2.73% and Utilities down by 2.71%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.68%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.89%, Nestle up by 0.26% and SBI up by 0.07%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 3.27%, Power Grid Corporation down by 3.06%, HCL Technologies down by 2.60%, Tata Motors down by 2.58% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.16% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, with a specific aim of strengthening collaboration in the health technology and innovation sectors, India and the UK have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of healthcare and life sciences as strategic partners with strong links in the area. The Health and Life Sciences Partnership signed by UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting in London will cover a broad range of areas, including digitisation and innovation across the country's state-funded National Health Service (NHS). This will strengthen the UK's partnership of cooperation with India on healthcare innovation and health security. The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda at the Delhi end, will also cover joint research, information sharing and cooperation through multilateral fora in areas such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami said the Health and Life Sciences agreement recognises that both countries have strengths in the sector and that this is a critical part of the offerings that any modern nation offers to its citizens quality healthcare. He said the focus is on things like antimicrobial resistance, which really is a critical issue for both countries. India is among the world's big producers of generic antibiotics and access to affordable antibiotics is critical. He also highlighted areas such as health services, given India's expertise in the field of training doctors and other healthcare professionals, and the wide scope to partner with the UK in its NHS reform agenda, including in the digital space around healthcare.
According to the MoU, the exchange of information and cooperation between both countries' designated healthcare bodies will focus on matters of mutual interest. Besides, AMR and medical training, the early focus of the agreement will cover digital health interventions, including telemedicine, public health and disease surveillance; cyber security, including information on the challenges and capabilities to boost resilience; mutually enhancing medical supply resilience to effectively prevent, mitigate and respond to future supply disruptions collaboratively; and health security, including cooperation and research on infectious disease. Other areas within the remit of the MoU include medical value travel, primary healthcare as a keystone and regulatory issues, including regulation and quality assurance of medicines and medical devices and sharing of quality standards.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22852.35, down by 239.85 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 22841.70 and 23007.45. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 1.83%, ICICI Bank up by 1.70%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.85%, Nestle up by 0.15% and SBI up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.81%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.74%, HCL Technologies down by 2.64%, Hindalco down by 2.50% and Shriram Finance down by 2.42% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 193.78 points or 0.96% to 20,259.97 and Shanghai Composite strengthened 9.73 points or 0.3% to 3,262.36. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 166.48 points or 0.42% to 39,765.50 and Straits Times fell 4.37 points or 0.11% to 3,799.89.