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Indian equity markets were trading slightly lower in late morning deals amid weak global cues as investors await the Fed's interest-rate decision and Chair Jerome Powell's press conference later in the day for directional cues. Meanwhile, the broader indices were also trading marginally lower. Sentiments were weak as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has slashed India's economic growth projection for 2022-23 to 7 per cent from 7.2 per cent earlier, citing higher than expected inflation and monetary tightening. However, downside remained capped as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government is working to extend incentives under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to more sectors. On the sectoral front, traders were seen piling up position in FMCG, Consumer Durables, Auto and Metal, while selling was witnessed Utilities, Power, PSU, Capital Goods and TECK.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower following the negative cues from global markets overnight, ahead of the US Fed's interest rate decision as well as the anticipated hawkish accompanying statement by Fed Chair Jerome Powell later in the day. Back home, stock specific developments, Central Bank of India (CBI) surged after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed the public sector lender from its Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework on complying with parameters like net non-performing assets (NNPAs) and capital ratios.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59605.11, down by 114.63 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 59491.81 and 59799.04. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.11%, while Small cap index down by 0.16%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.95%, Consumer Durables up by 0.24%, Auto up by 0.11% and Metal up by 0.01%, while Utilities down by 1.43%, Power down by 1.32%, PSU down by 0.79%, Capital Goods down by 0.57% and TECK down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.88%, Nestle up by 0.74%, Reliance Industries up by 0.72%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.56% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.10%, NTPC down by 1.19%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.10%, HDFC down by 0.92% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry is likely to release the new five-year foreign trade policy (FTP) on September 29, 2022 with a view to promoting the country's outbound shipments. The current foreign trade policy (2015-20) is in force till September 30, 2022.

On March 31, 2020, the government extended this policy for one year till March 31, 2021, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It was again extended till the end of September this year. In the policy, the government announces support measures for both goods and services exporters. Districts as an Export Hubs scheme are expected to be part of that document.

Under the scheme, the aim is to initially focus on a certain number of districts which have products that are scalable and hold huge export potential. The country's exports rose by 17.68 per cent to $ 193.51 billion, while imports grew by 45.74 per cent to $318 billion during the April-August period this fiscal. The trade deficit has widened to $ 124.52 billion from $ 53.78 billion in April-August 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,809.70, down by 6.55 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 17,838.70 and 17,738.65. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 3.63%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.95%, Apollo Hospitals up by 1.68%, Nestle up by 1.01% and Reliance Industries up by 0.96 %. On the flip side, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone down by 2.78%, Shree Cement fell 2.51%, Indusind Bank down 1.91%, ONGC 1.84% and NTPC dropped 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Shanghai Composite declined by 11.51 points or 0.37% to 3,110.90, Nikkei 225 slipped 328.45 points or 1.19% to 27,359.97, Hang Seng plunged 274.32 points or 1.46% to 18,507.10, Taiwan Weighted lost 131.56 points or 0.90% to 14,388.42, KOSPI declined 20.82 points or 0.88% to 2,347.03, Jakarta Composite fell 42.46 points or 0.59% to 7,154.49 and Straits Times was down by 0.21 points or 0.01% to 3,266.73.

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