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Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session
Oct-22-2020

Benchmarks continued weak trade in late afternoon session following weak cues from European markets. Indusind Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys were the prime losers among heavy-weights. Sentiments remained down-beat after United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that India's export growth saw a decline of 6.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 as compared to third quarter of last year. However, it said that India recorded export growth of four per cent in September. Traders overlooked Reserve Bank announced an on tap Targeted Long-Term Repo Operations (TLTRO) scheme of up to Rs 1 lakh crore to enable banks to provide liquidity support to a host of sectors, including agriculture, retail, drugs and pharmaceuticals and MSMEs.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors continue to wait for a resolution to talks between the Trump administration and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a coronavirus relief bill. European markets were trading lower, as a fall in German consumer morale, worries about soaring coronavirus cases in the continent and a U.S. stimulus impasse weighed on sentiment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40541.47, down by 165.84 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 40391.21 and 40721.57. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.95%, Capital Goods up by 1.33%, Power up by 1.12%, Industrials up by 1.01% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.94%, while Healthcare down by 0.88%, IT down by 0.85%, Auto down by 0.55%, Bankex down by 0.52% and TECK was down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.91%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.31%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.17%, ONGC up by 1.11% and Tata Steel up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.46%, ICICI Bank down by 1.57%, Infosys down by 1.39%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.38% and Asian Paints down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in its latest global trade update, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that India's export growth saw a decline of 6.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 as compared to third quarter of last year. However, it said that India recorded export growth of four per cent in September.

The report further said that global trade recorded a 5 per cent drop in the third quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year. This marks an improvement on the 19 per cent year-on-year plunge recorded in the second quarter, and the UNCTAD expects the frail recovery to continue in the fourth quarter.

Depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves in the winter months, the UN trade and development body expects the value of global trade to contract by 7 per cent to 9 per cent with respect to 2019.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11894.75, down by 42.90 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 11845.65 and 11939.55. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.88%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.39%, Adani Ports up by 2.07%, NTPC up by 1.94% and Britannia up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.16%, Indusind Bank down by 2.48%, Cipla down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.57% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 165.19 points or 0.7% to 23,474.27, KOSPI fell 15.81 points or 0.67% to 2,355.05, Shanghai Composite declined 12.52 points or 0.38% to 3,312.50 and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.63 points or 0.09% to 5,091.82. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 2.59 points or 0.1% to 2,528.20, Hang Seng increased 31.71 points or 0.13% to 24,786.13 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 39.78 points or 0.31% to 12,917.03.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 18.90 points or 0.33% to 5,757.60, France’s CAC decreased 26.27 points or 0.54% to 4,827.68 and Germany’s DAX was down by 86.79 points or 0.69% to 12,470.85.

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