Indian equities slip into negative territory

After trading near neutral line in green zone for little time, Indian equities once again slipped into negative territory in late afternoon session. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index are also trading weak. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Larsen & Toubro and ONGC. Sentiment on the street weakened despite Crisil in its latest report has said that financial conditions in India have staged a speedy recovery from the harrowing abyss they had been sent flailing into by the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic in April, 2020. It said the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) measures have helped mitigate the large and broad-based economic damage caused by the pandemic. On the sectoral front, infrastructure sector remained in focus with an aim to bring radical reforms in the way infrastructure projects are executed in India, NITI Aayog and Quality Council of India (QCI) have launched the ‘National Program and Project Management Policy Framework’ (NPMPF).

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after a meltdown in New York and Europe sparked by France reimposing a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, with fears other major economies could follow suit. European markets were trading higher, though gains were modest as record coronavirus infection rates emerged across some of the world’s biggest economies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39666.52, down by 255.94 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 39524.25 and 40010.83. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.31%, while Small cap index was down by 0.76%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.33% and Basic Materials was up by 0.01%, while Capital Goods down by 2.22%, Consumer Durables down by 1.51%, Industrials down by 1.50%, Metal down by 1.44% and PSU was down by 1.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.74%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.97%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.88%, HCL Tech up by 0.87% and Reliance Industries up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.32%, ONGC down by 3.01%, Indusind Bank down by 2.86%, Titan Company down by 2.66% and Axis Bank down by 2.44% were the top losers.Meanwhile, with an aim to bring radical reforms in the way infrastructure projects are executed in India, NITI Aayog and Quality Council of India (QCI) have launched the ‘National Program and Project Management Policy Framework’ (NPMPF).

This framework aims to formulate radical reforms in the way large and mega infrastructure projects are managed in India, with an action plan to adopt a program and project management approach to infra development; institutionalize and promote the profession of program and project management and build a workforce of such professionals; and enhance institutional capacity and capability of professionals.

Lauding the initiative, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said, ‘NPMPF will help in realizing the Prime Minister’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat by building a stronger India, in which we would need good quality infrastructure; we would need to reduce costs and waste material, without compromising on the environment and ecology. We also need to ensure time-bound and result-oriented delivery of projects.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11641.05, down by 88.55 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 11609.20 and 11744.15. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.48%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.88%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.80%, HCL Tech up by 0.77% and Reliance Industries up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 5.31%, Adani Ports down by 3.15%, ONGC down by 3.09%, Indusind Bank down by 2.91% and Tata Motors down by 2.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted dropped 130.84 points or 1.02% to 12,662.91, Hang Seng decreased 122.20 points or 0.49% to 24,586.60, Nikkei 225 slipped 86.57 points or 0.37% to 23,331.94, Straits Times trembled 25.06 points or 1.01% to 2,458.42 and KOSPI was down by18.59 points or 0.79% to 2,326.67. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 3.49 points or 0.11% to 3,272.73.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 6.82 points or 0.12% to 5,589.62, France’s CAC increased 5.30 points or 0.12% to 4,576.42 and Germany’s DAX was up by 37.91 points or 0.33% to 11,598.42.