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Sensex, Nifty trade under pressure; Auto stocks lead losers
Oct-17-2024

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-positive start on Thursday following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight coupled with mostly higher Asian counterparts, as markets continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of the latest US inflation data. Traders also reacted to data that showed Japan posting a trade deficit in September as exports unexpectedly declined, while imports growth slowed. Sensex and Nifty soon slipped below neutral lines and extend their losses to trade with cut of around half a percent each, led by selling in Auto and Realty counters. Foreign fund outflows dented sentiments. On October 16, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,435.94 crore. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of weekly F&O expiry later in the day.

On the sectoral front, auto stocks are under pressure after Bajaj Auto reported a 31.4 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,385.44 crore for Q2 FY25, impacted by a one-time deferred tax payment. In stock specific development, CRISIL jumped after it reported a 12.86 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 171.55 crore for Q3 2024. Its total income increased by 7.9 per cent to Rs 833.2 crore. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 81152.96, down by 348.40 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 81150.53 and 81781.40. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.80%, while Small cap index was down by 0.56%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.48% and TECK up by 0.20%, while Auto down by 2.99%, Realty down by 2.26%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.85%, Telecom down by 1.02% and Consumer Durables down by 0.83% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.45%, TCS up by 0.41%, SBI up by 0.39%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.38% and Reliance Industries up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.54%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.88%, Axis Bank down by 1.45%, HDFC Bank down by 1.18% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has stressed the need to manufacture high-quality products, and said without this approach it is going to be very difficult to make India truly competitive. He emphasized that prioritizing quality would not only meet domestic demands but also position India to serve global markets. He added ‘It will impact our ability to create jobs, expand economic activity, and sustain India’s economic growth’. He urged industry leaders to embrace quality as a long-term movement, stressing that for India to become a globally recognized brand, its products and services must be synonymous with quality.

Goyal acknowledged the challenges India faces in adopting quality standards, particularly in the face of initial resistance when introducing quality control orders. However, he underscored that overcoming this opposition is critical for India’s economic future. He said ‘India will have to aspire to be recognized in the world as a brand, a product made in India, a service provided from India. If it can be recognized across the world that if it’s coming from India, it has to be good quality, that’s when we will truly be competitive globally.’

He stressed that a shift in mindset is necessary to drive a quality-centric approach across sectors. He remarked ‘The root cause is our thinking, the mindset of the nation’, pointing out that those organizations that embraced quality saw a significant transformation in their growth and profitability, while others that ignored it remained peripheral players in the industry. He shared statistics demonstrating the government’s efforts to push for higher quality standards. He said ‘In the last 10 years, we have expanded from 14 quality control orders covering 106 products to 174 covering 732 products’, and emphasized the push for industries to align with these standards despite initial resistance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24821.70, down by 149.60 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 24819.85 and 25029.50. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.44%, Hindalco up by 0.94%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.51% and SBI up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 9.04%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.95%, Eicher Motors down by 3.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.66% and Shriram Finance down by 2.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Hang Seng surged 165.32 points or 0.81% to 20,452.17, Taiwan Weighted rose 64.44 points or 0.28% to 23,075.42, Jakarta Composite gained 46.98 points or 0.61% to 7,695.92, Straits Times added 29.49 points or 0.82% to 3,620.11 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3 points or 0.09% to 3,205.95. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 228.37 points or 0.58% to 38,951.93 and KOSPI was down by 3.63 points or 0.14% to 2,606.73.
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