Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in morning deals, dragged by a slide in information technology (IT) and bank stocks. Negative global cues and concerns over the quarterly financial performance of IT companies also hit investor sentiments. Some concern also came as data available with BSE showed foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Thursday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,862.57 crore. Traders paid no heed towards data showing that India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation (retail inflation) eased to a three-month low of 5.02 per cent year-on-year in September from 6.83 per cent in August, with moderation in vegetables and fuel prices. Besides, with good performance by the manufacturing, mining and power sectors, India's industrial production growth rose to a 14-month high of 10.3 per cent in August. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red amid fears of higher interest rates against the backdrop of a marginal rise in the latest US inflation numbers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66057.40, down by 350.99 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 65895.41 and 66176.11. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while Small cap index up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.35%, Telecom up by 0.86%, Healthcare up by 0.18%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.07% and Oil & Gas up by 0.05%, while Bankex down by 0.86%, IT down by 0.74%, Basic Materials down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.62% and TECK down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.39%, Indusind Bank up by 1.98%, Nestle up by 0.57%, TCS up by 0.53% and Tata Motors up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.36%, Axis Bank down by 2.18%, SBI down by 1.60%, Wipro down by 1.38% and JSW Steel down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with good performance by the manufacturing, mining and power sectors, India's industrial production growth rose to a 14-month high of 10.3 per cent in August. The factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted by 0.7 per cent in August 2022. The previous high was recorded at 12.6 per cent growth in June 2022. The IIP growth for July has been revised to 6 per cent from 5.7 per cent provisional estimates released last month. During April-August 2023-24, the IIP growth works out to be 6.1 per cent, down from 7.7 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. For the month of August 2023, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stood at 145.1.

The data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the manufacturing sector's output grew 9.3 per cent in August 2023 against a contraction of 0.5 per cent a year ago. Power generation rose 15.3 per cent in August 2023 compared to 1.4 per cent in the year-ago period. Mining output rose by 12.3 per cent during the month under review against a 3.9 per cent contraction a year ago. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of August 2023 stood at 111.9, 143.5 and 220.5 respectively. 

The capital goods segment grew 12.6 per cent in August this year compared to 4.3 per cent. Consumer durables output during the month declined by 5.7 per cent against a contraction of 4.4 per cent in the year-ago period. Consumer non-durable goods output increased by 9 per cent compared to a contraction of 9 per cent a year earlier. Infrastructure/construction goods posted a growth of 14.9 per cent against 3 per cent expansion a year ago. The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged 12.4 per cent growth in the month against 1.7 per cent in the year-ago period. The intermediate goods output in August rose 6.5 per cent from 1.3 per cent growth during the corresponding month last year.

As per use-based classification, the indices stood at 145.4 for Primary Goods, 107.0 for Capital Goods, 156.1 for Intermediate Goods and 175.5 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of August 2023. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 122.8 and 147.0 respectively for the month of August 2023.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19694.45, down by 99.55 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 19635.30 and 19736.60. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Product up by 2.50%, Indusind Bank up by 2.11%, HCL Technologies up by 2.11%, Cipla up by 0.92% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.54%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.18%, Infosys down by 2.39%, Axis Bank down by 2.37%, SBI down by 1.66% and Wipro down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 198.41 points or 0.61% to 32,296.25, Taiwan Weighted lost 64.64 points or 0.38% to 16,761.27, Hang Seng declined 385.36 points or 2.16% to 17,852.85, Straits Times fell 27.78 points or 0.86% to 3,190.91, KOSPI dropped 25.22 points or 1.02% to 2,454.60 and Shanghai Composite weakened 19.93 points or 0.65% to 3,087.97.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite gained 10.65 points or 0.15% to 6,945.80.