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Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, as both Sensex and Nifty remained under a grip of bears, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Domestic sentiments remained downbeat as the gross fiscal deficit of the Indian states rose nearly 79 per cent after the lockdown. According to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the fiscal deficit rose from Rs 5.2 trillion in FY20 to Rs 9.3 trillion in 2020-21 (FY21).

Traders failed to get any sense of relief with report that foreign investors have been aggressively buying Indian equities in November, investing Rs 30,385 crore this month so far, on stabilisation in rupee and resilience of the domestic economy compared to global counterparts. Meanwhile, Industry body CII has pitched for a reduction in personal income tax rates, decriminalisation of the goods and services tax and a relook at the capital gains tax rates as part of its agenda presented to the government for the forthcoming Budget.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, even after Thailand's economy expanded at the fastest pace in more than a year in the third quarter on the back of strong private consumption and investment. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council reported that Southeast Asia's second largest economy grew 4.5 percent from the last year, following second quarter's 2.5 percent expansion.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61146.29, down by 517.19 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 61116.99 and 61456.33. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Telecom up by 0.42%, while IT down by 1.25%, Energy down by 1.13%, Oil & Gas down by 1.09%, TECK down by 0.92% and Realty down by 0.92% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.20%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.00%, Axis Bank up by 0.87% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.20%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.73%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.64%, HDFC down by 1.60%, Reliance Industries down by 1.56% and Infosys down by 1.44% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Labour ministry has said that retail inflation for farm and rural workers eased marginally to 7.22 per cent and 7.34 per cent, respectively, in October compared to September 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. Point to point rate of inflation based on the CPI-AL (consumer price index-agricultural labour) and CPI-RL (rural labour) stood at 7.22 per cent & 7.34 per cent in October 2022 compared to 7.69 per cent & 7.90 per cent respectively in September 2022 and 2.76 per cent and 3.12 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year.

Food inflation stood at 7.05 per cent and 7 per cent in October 2022 compared to 7.47 per cent & 7.52 per cent respectively in September 2022 and 0.39 per cent & 0.59 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year. The All-India Consumer Price Index Number for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers for the month of October 2022 increased by 10 points and 9 points to stand at 1159 points and 1170 points respectively. The CPI-AL was at 1,149 points in September 2022, while CPI-RL was at 1,161 points.

The major contribution towards the rise in general index of Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers came from food group to the extent of 9.15 & 8.35 points respectively mainly due to increase in prices of rice, wheat-atta, jowar, ragi, pulses, milk, ghee, fish fresh/dry, poultry, onion, chillies dry, mixed spices, vegetables & fruits, gur, etc. The rise in index varied from state to state. In case of Agricultural Labourers, it recorded an increase of 1 to 16 points in 20 states. Tamil Nadu with 1337 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with 913 points stood at the bottom.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18155.00, down by 152.65 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 18146.85 and 18262.30. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.97%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.02%, Axis Bank up by 0.90% and Britannia up by 0.45%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 4.83%, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.96%, Hindalco down by 1.78%, JSW Steel down by 1.78% and TCS down by 1.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 24.98 points or 1.02% to 2,419.50, Shanghai Composite declined 16.67 points or 0.54% to 3,080.57, Jakarta Composite lost 20.76 points or 0.29% to 7,061.42, Taiwan Weighted dropped 55.60 points or 0.38% to 14,449.39, Hang Seng decreased 334.35 points or 1.86% to 17,658.19 and Straits Times trembled 24.48 points or 0.75% to 3,247.75, while Nikkei 225 surged 45.02 points or 0.16% to 27,944.79.

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