Bourses turn negative in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks slipped into the red in Wednesday's morning deals, on account of selling in IT, TECK and Healthcare stocks. The sentiments turned pessimistic with S&P Global Ratings’ statement that non-performing loans in the Indian banking sector is likely to witness an uptick and may shoot up to 11 per cent of gross loans in the next 12-18 months. Traders failed to take support with CII National Committee on Retail Chairman Shashwat Goenka’s statement that a cohesive national retail policy would go a long way in reviving the sector and help generate up to 30 lakh additional jobs in the country by 2024, He said a thorough national retail policy would help the sector bounce back and grow exponentially in the years to come.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors continued to cheer the progress on COVID-19 vaccines along with ease of political uncertainty after Trump’s administration indicated a smooth transition for President-elect Joe Biden to the White House.  Back home, on the sectoral front, automobile industry’s stocks remained in focus with Ind-Ra’s report that India's two-wheeler exports will see sustained growth in the second half of next fiscal after witnessing temporary hurdles in the first half this year due to COVID-19 and weakened crude oil prices, hurting the economies of key exporting destinations. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 44450.04, down by 72.98 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 44388.32 and 44825.37. There were 13 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.77%, while Small cap index was down by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.52%, PSU up by 0.47%, Utilities up by 0.17%, Metal up by 0.12% and Energy up by 0.08%, while IT down by 1.24%, TECK down by 1.04%, Healthcare down by 0.95%, Power down by 0.82% and Capital Goods down by 0.73% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.48%, ICICI Bank up by 1.84%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.18%, SBI up by 0.76% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.13%, HCL Technologies down by 1.65%, Nestle down by 1.48%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.42% and Infosys down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic ratings agency Icra has said the pick up in economic activity in October is the result of pent-up demand and may not sustain going ahead. Multiple fast-paced indicators, including GST collections, have been showing a sharp recovery since October, which has also led many analysts to revise their overall GDP forecasts for the fiscal.

The agency's Principal Economist Aditi Nayar said ‘we caution that the spikes in production seen in the various sectors in October 2020, are an exaggeration of the true recovery on the ground, as they have been driven by a large component of pent-up demand that may not sustain after the festive period is over.’

She added the factors which remain to be watched are the pace of government spending in the second half of the fiscal, after the unexpected contraction recorded in the September quarter. Besides, she warned that the potential re-imposition of restrictions in one or more states on account of a fresh surge in CVID-19 infections, may temper the momentum of recovery in the coming months.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13026.05, down by 29.10 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 13017.75 and 13145.85. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.29%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.10%, SBI Life Insuran up by 1.91%, ICICI Bank up by 1.65% and Grasim Industries up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.42%, Eicher Motors down by 2.24%, Nestle down by 1.61%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.47% and Sun Pharma down by 1.44% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 179.55 points or 0.69% to 26,345.14, Hang Seng increased 155.08 points or 0.58% to 26,743.28, Jakarta Composite soared 13.19 points or 0.23% to 5,714.22 and Straits Times advanced 9.14 points or 0.32% to 2,900.77.

On the flip side, KOSPI fell 15.41 points or 0.59% to 2,602.35, Shanghai Composite declined 7.49 points or 0.22% to 3,395.33 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 68.19 points or 0.49% to 13,738.94.