Markets continue to trade under pressure; Nifty tests 9,600

Nifty PSU bank index fell over 1%, recording its biggest intraday percent loss since May 29

Benchmark indices continued to trade under pressure tracking global stocks as investors booked profit ahead of inflation data due today and the US Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week.
 
Inflation in India is expected to have cooled to a new record low of 2.60% in May, according to a Reuters poll, which could add pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates later in the year.
 
Asian markets were trading lower - with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.8% - as shares of electronic products makers fell on caution ahead of the Fed, which is expected to raise rates and signal further increases this year.

 

At 2:11 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,080, down 182 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,609, down 59 points.
 
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices dipped 0.3% each.
 
Nifty PSU bank index dropped as much as 1.34%, with all its members trading lower, and recorded its biggest intraday percent loss since May 29, while the Nifty Bank index slipped as much as 0.62%.
 
Among public sector banks, Bank of India (down 2.37%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (down 2.27%), Punjab National Bank (down 2.23%), Union Bank of India (down 1.99%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.93%) dragged the index ahead of NPA meet where FM Arun Jaitley will discuss the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) and the steps being taken by them to expedite with the PSB heads.

 
Shares of information technology companies such as Wipro, TCS and Infosys were trading lower on Monday after country's third-largest software services exporter Wipro said US president Donald Trump’s administration and his regulations could be a potential threat to its growth. Reacting to the development, the Nifty IT index fell over 1% to 10,314, and was among the top three sectoral losers on NSE.
 
Among gainers, shares of Cadila Healthcare touched 52-week high of Rs 555.55, rose nearly 3% intraday on the back of final approval from USFDA to market Nystatin Topical Powder.
 
Jewellery stocks rallied 3-5% intraday after the GST Council on Sunday decided to reduce GST rates for jewellery making charges to 5% from 18% earlier. PC Jeweller and Titan Company gained as much as 3% while Gitanjali Gems and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri climbed nearly 5%.