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Indian equity markets were trading lower in afternoon deals as inflation fears persisted and expectations grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve would tighten policy in the coming months. Currently, Sensex and Nifty were trading lower by over 400 and 100 points respectively. Sentiments were impacted as India's external debt stood at $571.3 billion at end-June, recording an increase of $1.6 billion over its level at the end of March 2021. On the sectoral front, Oil & Gas and fertilizer were in buzz as government has hiked gas price ceiling by 62 per cent that will hurt industries relying on it. On the global front; all Asian markets were trading lower as investors tracked another hefty sell-off on Wall Street, concerned about the prospect of higher borrowing costs, a possible US debt default and signs that the global recovery is slowing.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58654.04, down by 472.32 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 58551.14 and 58890.08. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.73%, Basic Materials up by 0.36%, Energy up by 0.14%, Oil & Gas up by 0.10% and Healthcare was up by 0.02%, while Realty down by 1.45%, Telecom down by 1.22%, Bankex down by 0.80%, Auto down by 0.75%  and Utilities was down by 0.72% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.02%, Tata Steel up by 1.08%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.47%, Reliance Industries up by 0.23% and Ultratech Cement was up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.47%, NTPC down by 2.78%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.35%, Asian Paints down by 2.07% and Bajaj Finance was down by 2.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries grew by 11.6 percent in August 2021 as compared to same month last year mainly due to an uptick in the production of cement, coal, and natural gas. The eight infrastructure sectors had contracted by 6.9 per cent in August 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to control the spread of COVID-19. 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 20.6 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 12.5 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over corresponding period of the previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight increased by 20.6 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 21.0 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight increased by 9.1 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 12.3 per cent during April to August, 2021-22over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production having 17.92 percent weight increased by 5.1 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 44.2 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight increased by 36.3 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 44.3 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight increased by 15.3per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index increased by 15.2 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the flip side, fertilizers production having 2.63 percent weight declined by 3.1 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020 and its cumulative index decreased by 1.5 per cent during April to August, 2021-22 over the corresponding period of previous year. Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight declined by 2.3 per cent in August, 2021 over August, 2020. Its cumulative index declined by 3.2 per cent during April to August, 2021-22over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17477.95, down by 140.20 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 17452.90 and 17551.95. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.04%, JSW Steel up by 1.94%, Tata Steel up by 0.88%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 0.80% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.77%, NTPC down by 2.82%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.48%, Asian Paints down by 2.17% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.15% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 681.59 points or 2.31% to 28,771.07, Taiwan Weighted dropped 363.88 points or 2.15% to 16,570.89, Jakarta Composite lost 75.01points or 1.19% to 6,211.93, KOSPI fell 49.64 points or 1.62% to 3,019.18 and Straits Times trembled 33.08 points or 1.07% to 3,053.62.

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