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Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in afternoon session, but continue to trade below the neutral lines with Sensex and Nifty trading below 52400 and 15700 levels, respectively. Traders were worried as India's manufacturing sector activities contracted for the first time in 11 months in June as rise in coronavirus cases and strict containment measures adversely impacted demand as well as resulted in job losses. The seasonally-adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) declined to 48.1 in June from 50.8 in May. Some anxiety also came as India's external debt surged by $11.5 billion year-on-year to $570 billion as of March-end 2021, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. The external debt to GDP ratio rose to 21.1 per cent as of March-end 2021 from 20.6 per cent a year ago. However, markets pared some of their losses as the country’s foreign exchange reserves in nominal terms, including the valuation effects, increased by $99.2 billion during the financial year 2020-21, compared to $64.9 billion in the preceding year, RBI data showed.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red weighed by worries about new coronavirus infections and fresh lockdowns. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52399.22, down by 83.49 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 52342.02 and 52638.50. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.93%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.61%, FMCG up by 0.27%, Healthcare up by 0.26% and Realty up by 0.23%, while Power down by 1.22%, Capital Goods down by 0.55%, Telecom down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.44% and Utilities was down by 0.36% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.40%, SBI up by 0.66%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.64%, Sun Pharma up by 0.61% and NTPC was up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.21%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.92%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.83%, HDFC Bank down by 0.76% and Infosys was down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries grew by 16.8 percent in May 2021 as compared to same month last year, mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity. The eight infrastructure sectors had contracted by 21.4 percent in May 2020 due to the lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 infections. In March this year, these key sectors had recorded a growth of 11.4 percent, and 60.9 percent in April. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33 percent weight increased by 6.9 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 8.2 percent during April to May, 2021-22 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight increased by 20.1 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 22.5 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight increased by 15.3 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 22.8 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production having 17.92 percent weight increased by 59.3 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 149.5 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight increased by 7.9 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 100.4 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight increased by 7.3 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 21.5 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the flip side, Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight declined by 6.3 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 4.2 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizers production having 2.63 percent weight decreased by 9.6 percent in May, 2021 over May, 2020 and its cumulative index decreased by 3.9 per cent during April to May, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15699.30, down by 22.20 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 15685.35 and 15755.55. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.37%, Hindalco up by 1.65%, Tata Motors up by 1.65%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.91% and Divi's Lab was up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 1.83%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.14%, Wipro down by 1.10%, BPCL down by 0.98% and Ultratech Cement was down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 14.62 points or 0.44% to 3,282.06, Jakarta Composite lost 6.79 points or 0.11% to 5,978.70, Straits Times trembled 1.65 points or 0.05% to 3,128.81, Taiwan Weighted dropped 41.52 points or 0.23% to 17,713.94 and Nikkei 225 was down by 84.49 points or 0.29% to 28,707.04

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.73 points or 0.13% to 3,595.93.

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