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Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments got cautious, after India's manufacturing activity improved again in August, although S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 56.2 from the eight-month high of 56.4 recorded in July. Adding more worries, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted to six-month low of 4.5 per cent in July 2022 against 9.9 per cent in the year-ago period. The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors was 13.2 per cent in June 2022. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the manufacturing sector in China fell into contraction territory in August, the latest survey from Caixin showed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.5. That's down from 50.4 in July, and it moves beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Though only slight, it marked the first drop in sales for three months. Panelists commented that generally subdued market conditions, power cuts and lingering COVID-19 impacts had all dampened overall sales. Foreign demand also fell back into contraction, with new export business decreasing modestly.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59126.78, down by 410.29 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 58638.46 and 59309.79. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.52%, Realty up by 1.31%, Auto up by 0.69%, Industrials up by 0.68% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.57%, while IT down by 1.67%, TECK down by 1.39%, Energy down by 1.29%, Oil & Gas down by 1.25% and Metal down by 0.85% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.82%, Asian Paints up by 2.36%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.75%, Titan Co up by 1.36% and SBI up by 1.11%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.21%, Infosys down by 2.14%, Reliance Industries down by 1.71%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.70% and HCL Tech. down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors contracted to six-month low of 4.5 per cent in July 2022 against 9.9 per cent in the year-ago period. The production growth of eight infrastructure sectors was 13.2 per cent in June 2022. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

Coal production having 10.33 per cent weight increased by 11.4 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 26.6 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 per cent weight increased by 6.2 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 11.7 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizers production having 2.63 per cent weight increased by 6.2 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 11.3 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel production having 17.92 per cent weight increased by 5.7 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 6.5 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 per cent weight increased by 2.1 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 13.3 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 per cent weight increased by 2.2 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index increased by 13.1 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

However, Crude oil production having 8.98 per cent weight declined by 3.8 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021 and its cumulative index declined by 0.5 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 per cent weight declined by 0.3 per cent in July, 2022 over July, 2021, while its cumulative index increased by 3.5 per cent during April to July, 2022-23 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17646.10, down by 113.20 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 17485.55 and 17695.60. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.88%, Asian Paints up by 2.37%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.32%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.73% and Grasim Industries up by 1.61%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.60%, Hindalco down by 2.51%, TCS down by 2.20%, Infosys down by 2.14% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 430.06 points or 1.53% to 27,661.47, Hang Seng decreased 294.12 points or 1.47% to 19,660.27, Taiwan Weighted dropped 262.66 points or 1.74% to 14,832.78 and KOSPI fell 51.89 points or 2.10% to 2,420.16. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 0.41 points or 0.01% to 3,222.08, Jakarta Composite soared 3.66 points or 0.05% to 7,182.25 and Shanghai Composite gained 0.69 points or 0.02% to 3,202.83.