Markets trade flat in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made pessimistic start on Wednesday amid weakness in global markets. Soon, markets turned choppy and are trading flat in early deals as traders remained on sidelines as the central government mulls over lockdown extension beyond April 14 amid the spread of coronavirus. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India stand at 4,789 as the country entered the fifteenth day of a 21-day countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Around 124 people have died due to the disease. Some cautiousness also came as ratings agency ICRA predicted that India's economy is likely to witness a sharp contraction of 4.5 per cent during Q4FY2020 and is expected to post a GDP growth of just 2 percent in FY2021.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading in red following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid worries about the rising death toll across the globe due to the coronavirus pandemic. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that coronavirus deaths in his state on Monday reflected the biggest one-day increase.

Back home, reality stocks were under pressure amid reports that the real estate sector is saddled with huge unsold inventory worth Rs 3.7 lakh crore. In stock specific development, Britannia Industries jumped after it partnered with online delivery platform Dunzo for delivery of essentials.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30062.73, down by 4.48 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 29602.94 and 30240.81. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.89%, while Small cap index was up by 2.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 4.50%, FMCG up by 2.72%, Metal up by 2.28%, Oil & Gas up by 1.65%, Capital Goods up by 1.63%, while Energy down by 1.79%, Bankex down by 1.53%, Telecom down by 0.27% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 5.43%, Sun Pharma up by 5.18%, HCL Technologies up by 3.19%, Tata Steel up by 3.17% and HDFC up by 3.07%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.49%, Reliance Industries down by 3.20%, Indusind Bank down by 2.15%, SBI down by 1.88% and ICICI Bank down by 1.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ICRA Ratings has cut India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast amid the Covid-19 crisis and expects the economy to grow at just 2% in the current financial year (FY21). It mentioned that the nationwide lockdown announced to contain the coronavirus outbreak has impacted industries and their operations have come to a standstill.

It further said that the Indian economy may witness a sharp contraction of 4.5% (de-growth) during Q4 FY20. It stated the concerns due to Covid-19 have morphed from the impact of imports from China on domestic supply chains, into a domestic and external demand shock, with social distancing and lockdowns leading to production shutdowns and job losses in some sectors.

Besides, the rating agency's vice president and sector head (corporate ratings) Shamsher Dewan said ‘amid uncertainty as to when the situation will normalize, we expect a sharp downturn in various indicators of the manufacturing and services sectors from March 2020 onwards.’ This primarily includes the discretionary activities like travel, tourism and hospitality; labour intensive sectors like construction, transport and manufacturing of non-essential items; exports; and supporting sectors like electricity.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8825.75, up by 33.55 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 8653.90 and 8854.65. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 7.57%, Hindustan Unilever up by 5.92%, Cipla up by 5.75%, Vedanta up by 5.24% and Britannia Industries up by 5.13%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.29%, Reliance Industries down by 2.76%, TCS down by 2.17%, Shree Cement down by 2.07% and ITC down by 1.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Straits Times declined 52.34 points or 2.04% to 2,519.55, Hang Seng fell 256.12 points or 1.06% to 23,997.17, KOSPI decreased 6.60 points or 0.36% to 1,817.00, Jakarta Composite inched down 134.94 points or 2.82% to 4,643.70 and Shanghai Composite was down by 8.88 points or 0.31% to 2,811.88. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 rose 67.07 points or 0.35% to 19,017.25 and Taiwan weighted jumped 98.23 points or 0.98% to 10,094.62.