Indian equities indexes continued to trade lower in the midday session, as investors booked profits after recent gains amid weak trade in Asia. Markets were also affected by selling pressure in Healthcare and Capital Goods sectors. Traders were concerned when India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) reduced India’s GDP growth prediction for FY23 to 7-7.2%, down from 7.6% before, citing increased uncertainty about the Russia-Ukraine war and the resulting weakening of consumer mood.

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On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower with Taiwan Weighted dropping 47.09 points or 0.27% to 17,693.47, Hang Seng decreased 233.66 points or 1.05% to 21,998.37, Shanghai Composite declined 15.29 points or 0.47% to 3,251.31, Straits Times trembled 11.40 points or 0.33% to 3,431.21 and Nikkei 225 was down by 205.82 points or 0.73% to 27,821.43.

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The Sensex is presently trading at 58,641.41, down 42.58 points or 0.07% from its high of 58,536.93 and low of 58,890.92. On the index, there were 17 stocks that advanced and 13 stocks that declined.

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The broader indices were trading in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.27%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.52%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.75%, Utilities up by 0.76%, Oil & Gas up by 0.73%, Power up by 0.72% and FMCG was up by 0.67%, while Healthcare down by 0.42%, Capital Goods down by 0.24%, TECK down by 0.16% and IT was down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.88%, Asian Paints up by 1.02%, Axis Bank up by 1.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.77% and Bajaj Finance was up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries is down by 1.42%, Wipro down by 0.90%, Infosys down by 0.82%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.74% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.73% were the top losers.

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The Nifty is presently trading at 17,486.40, down 11.85 points or 0.07% after fluctuating between 17,456.70 and 17,559.80. On the index, there were 26 stocks that advanced and 24 stocks that declined.

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The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.85%, JSW Steel up by 1.83%, Britannia Inds up by 1.42%, Adani Ports up by 1.41% and Tata Consumer Products was up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Hindalco is down by 3.86%, Apollo Hospital down by 1.65%, Divi’s Lab down by 1.57%, Reliance Industries down by 1.23% and HDFC Life Insurance was down by 1.14% were the top losers.