Indian equities remain in red terrain in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks remained in red terrain in morning deals, tracking the losses in their Asian peers. Traders remained cautious with private report stated that India’s GDP is likely to contract by 8.6 percent in FY21 as against its earlier prediction of 5.8 percent, citing factors including the modest government response to the crisis for its estimate. Some concern also came with a report that total tax collection of the Centre, including advance tax collection for the second quarter, fell 22.5% to Rs 2,53,532.3 crore till September 15 of the current fiscal as compared to the year-ago period. However, further losses got restricted as some optimism remained among traders with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das assured the industry that the central bank will take all necessary measures to ensure liquidity in the system and promote economic growth. Indian economy contracted 23.9 percent in the first quarter of the current financial year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, after the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low for a long time but stopped short of offering further stimulus to shore up a battered US economy. Investors remained cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The BOJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.1 percent, although it may introduce other means of stimulus.

Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to auto industry remained in focus with private report stated that exports and a focus on the domestic market offer major potential opportunity areas for the Indian auto industry but the sector needs a road map for localization. Retail industry’s stocks were also buzzing as a joint report by industry body Assocham and Primus Partners stated that the Indian retail industry is expected to driven by data-led opportunities and artificial intelligence. It added the changing consumer preferences is driving the need for the digitisation of stores, and increased integration of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the value chain will further accelerate the growth of data-driven retail.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39175.25, down by 127.60 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 39022.34 and 39208.21. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.60%, Healthcare up by 0.34%, TECK up by 0.33%, Oil & Gas up by 0.08% and Basic Materials up by 0.06%, while Telecom down by 1.12%, Realty down by 0.94%, Power down by 0.91%, Bankex down by 0.86% and Capital Goods down by 0.83% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 2.81%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.43%, ONGC up by 0.96%, Asian Paints up by 0.93% and Infosys up by 0.90%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.25%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.11%, Power Grid down by 1.08%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.06% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has showed that passenger load factor crossed 60 per cent in August for the first time since the resumption of domestic flights in May this year. Industry-wise load factor or seat occupancy was 63.2 per cent in August.

SpiceJet reported load factor of 76 per cent followed by Vistara (68.3 per cent). Over 2.8 million passengers flew in August which is 33 per cent higher than July. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the traffic fell 76 per cent. IndiGo remains the market leader with 59.4 per cent market share in August.

Besides, domestic air traffic grew 6 per cent in July on a month-on-month (MoM) basis amid decline in seat occupancy and restrictions on flight movements in Kolkata. While the number of flights increased in July, compared to June, industry wide load factor declined to 52.7 per cent in July, from 54.8 per cent in June. Airlines flew 2.1 million in passengers in July, against 1.9 million passengers in June.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11568.75, down by 35.80 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 11520.50 and 11579.95. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 2.74%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.50%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.25%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.36% and Grasim Industries up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.64%, Tata Motors down by 1.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.18%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.18% and Power Grid down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading lower; Taiwan Weighted dropped 107.06 points or 0.83% to 12,869.70, Nikkei 225 slipped 150.01 points or 0.64% to 23,325.52, Straits Times trembled 3.47 points or 0.14% to 2,501.68, KOSPI fell 30.26 points or 1.24% to 2,405.66, Shanghai Composite declined 32.45 points or 0.99% to 3,251.47, Jakarta Composite lost 11.05 points or 0.22% to 5,047.43 and Hang Seng decreased 397.96 points or 1.61% to 24,327.67.