Sensex, Nifty crumble under pressure in late noon deals

Indian equity bourses were crumbling under pressure in late noon deals, on account of weak cues from European markets. Traders remained worried, amid a report stating that progress across major development schemes in India, including education, health and nutrition among others, remains constrained due to sub-optimal utilisation of available funds, especially at the district level. Adding more anxiety on the street, another private report stated that surging inflation and slowing growth are raising serious concerns about the future growth prospects of the economy and as a remedial measure the government should resolve supply side hurdles and ensure more stringent governance norms.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, after Germany's producer prices declined at a slower pace in December. The data from Destatis showed that producer prices fell 0.2 percent year-on-year, slower than the 0.7 percent decrease seen in November. However, Asian markets were trading mixed, as Japan's industrial production declined slightly more than initially estimated in November. The data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent month-on-month November. According to the initial estimate, production had declined 0.9 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41569.53, down by 375.84 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 41553.82 and 42273.87. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.53%, while Small cap index was down by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.75%, Realty up by 0.80%, Utilities up by 0.71%, Power up by 0.63% and FMCG up by 0.04%, while Energy down by 2.05%, Bankex down by 1.60%, IT down by 1.10%, Oil & Gas down by 0.80% and Auto down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.65%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.62%, Asian Paints up by 1.00%, ITC up by 0.81% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.14%, TCS down by 2.60%, Reliance Industries down by 2.41%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.98% and NTPC down by 1.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has been ranked very low at 76th place in a list of 82 countries on Global Social Mobility Index released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The report also lists India among the five countries that stand to gain the most from a better social mobility score that seeks to measure parameters necessary for creating societies where every person has the same opportunity to fulfil his potential in life irrespective of socioeconomic background.

Measuring countries across five key dimensions distributed over 10 pillars – health; education (access, quality and equity); technology; work (opportunities, wages, conditions); and protections and institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions) – shows that fair wages, social protection and lifelong learning are the biggest drags on social mobility globally.

In the case of India, it ranks 76th out of 82 economies. It ranks 41st in lifelong learning and 53rd in working conditions. The Global Social Mobility Index, which benchmarks 82 global economies, is designed to provide policy-makers with a means to identify areas for improving social mobility and promoting equally shared opportunities in their economies, regardless of their development.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12232.70, down by 119.65 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 12230.70 and 12430.50. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.75%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.80%, GAIL India up by 1.62% and Asian Paints up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.24%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 4.23%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.37%, Coal India down by 2.74% and TCS down by 2.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 42.25 points or 0.18% to 24,083.51, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 28.42 points or 0.24% to 12,118.71, Shanghai Composite gained 14.93 points or 0.49% to 3,090.43 and KOSPI was up by 12.07 points or 0.54% to 2,262.64. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 7.21 points or 0.22% to 3,273.82, Jakarta Composite lost 32.03 points or 0.51% to 6,259.63 and Hang Seng was down by 161.42 points or 0.56% to 28,895.00.

All European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 lost 17.81 points or 0.23% to 7,656.75, France’s CAC slipped 22.22 points or 0.36% to 6,078.50 and Germany’s DAX was down by 24.02 points or 0.18% to 13,502.11.