Bears tighten grip on Indian markets

Bears tightened their grip on Indian equity markets in late afternoon deals, on account of weak cues from the European markets. Investors remained worried, as Former RBI governor C Rangarajan said the Reserve Bank alone can not contain inflation as supply-side shocks are needed to be managed by the government. The street paid no heed towards the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report showing that India created 1008600 new jobs in the month of December 2019 as against revised figure of 1009238 in November 2019.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Lithuania's industrial production declined in January, led by fall in electricity output. Industrial production decreased a working-day adjusted 4.0 percent year-on-year in January, led by a 13.4 percent drop in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. Asian markets were also trading in red, after Singapore's consumer price inflation remained stable in January. The data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed that the consumer price index rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in January, same as seen in December.

Back home, the metal industry stocks were in watch, after Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged Japanese investors to invest in India's steel sector, saying the country offers a fast-growing market and steel consumption will more than double in the coming years.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40490.99, down by 679.13 points or 1.65% after trading in a range of 40477.13 and 41037.01. There were 1 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.10%, while Small cap index was down by 1.10%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 4.95%, Telecom down by 3.48%, Auto down by 2.53%, Basic Materials down by 2.30% and PSU down by 1.89%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The only gainer on the Sensex was Infosys up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 5.47%, ONGC down by 4.08%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.25%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.08% and HDFC down by 2.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1008600 new jobs in the month of December 2019 as against revised figure of 1009238 in November 2019.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top 10 sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services, Trading - Commercial Establishments, Establishments engaged in Manufacturing- Marketing Servicing & Usage of Computers, Electric-Mechanical-or General Engineering Products, Building and Construction Industry, Engineers- Engineering Contractors, Financing Establishment, Hospitals and Heavy - Fine Chemicals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Telangana.

According to the data report, 6863 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 265928 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 276932, 127438, 177417 and 154022 new payrolls respectively in December 2019.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11867.95, down by 212.90 points or 1.76% after trading in a range of 11861.90 and 12012.55. There were no stocks advancing against 50 stocks declining on the index.

The top losers on Nifty were JSW Steel down by 6.83%, Bharti Infratel down by 5.61%, Tata Steel down by 5.44%, Vedanta down by 5.30% and Hindalco down by 4.84%.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 470.58 points or 1.72% to 26,838.23, Taiwan Weighted dropped 151.48 points or 1.30% to 11,534.87, KOSPI fell 83.80 points or 3.87% to 2,079.04 and Straits Times trembled 30.07 points or 0.95% to 3,150.96. Jakarta Composite decreased 83.70 points or 1.42 % to 5,798.56 and Shanghai Composite dropped 8.44 points or 0.28% to 3,031.23.

All European markets were trading in red, UK’s FTSE 100 lost 204.29 points or 2.76% to 7,199.63, France’s CAC fell 199.35 points or 3.31% to 5,830.37 and Germany’s DAX was down by 456.91 points or 3.36% to 13,122.42.