Bourses continue to trade weak

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below their crucial 46,800 and 13,750 levels, respectively, on account of selling in front line blue chip counters. Traders remained concerned as domestic rating agency ICRA in its latest report is expecting that the technical recession in the country's economy to end in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal (Q4FY21), limiting the contraction in the Gross domestic product (GDP) to 7.8 percent in the financial year 2021. Adding pessimism, private report stated that the current pandemic is likely to shape consumer thinking and consequently impact shopping behaviour, and the overall consumption growth is likely to get delayed by up to two years. Traders were seen in selling position in telecom, oil & gas and banking stocks, while piling up was witnessed in IT, TECK and consumer durables stocks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower weighed down with worries over surging covid cases in parts of Asia and around the world. Back on street, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46768.82, down by 121.52 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 46630.31 and 47026.02. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.46%, while Small cap index was down by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.94%, TECK up by 1.51%, Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, Capital Goods up by 0.37% and Healthcare was up by 0.23%, while Telecom down by 1.34%, Oil & Gas down by 1.13%, Bankex down by 0.93%, PSU down by 0.91% and Energy was down by 0.81% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.41%, HCL Tech up by 2.20%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.87%, TCS up by 1.78% and Titan Company was up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.09%, ONGC down by 2.41%, HDFC down by 1.87%, HDFC Bank down by 1.83% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile; Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government has taken several measures to support the economy but no amount of intervention will be adequate to deal with the crisis triggered by the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic. She also said that while in early 2020 green shoots and revival signs of the economy were visible, it was upset with the pandemic setting in.

Sitharaman has stated that the government has taken steps for interventions by consulting several chambers of commerce, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took feedback from the industry. For instance, she said the Garib Kalyan Yojana, free cooking gas and direct benefit transfer schemes were announced by the government. She also said three different sets of announcements were made regarding 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', and together with RBI, certain tailormade schemes were unveiled for various sectors on a demand-driven basis. She said ‘we did not restrict the opportunities to any particular sector. This was needed to keep the industry floating.’

Talking on the next Budget, she said that public expenditure, including on capital and infrastructure, will be kept up. She also said several sovereign and pension funds are willing to come to India with long-term commitments, which is leading to the higher inward flow of FDI than comparable economies. Exuding hope, she said ‘we are seeing clear signs of revival. But that has to sustain. We need inputs from the industry at this extraordinary time during Budget-making.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13703.80, down by 36.90 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 13658.60 and 13771.45. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.40%, HCL Tech up by 2.30%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.96%, Wipro up by 1.84% and Dr. Reddys Lab was up by 1.71%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.08%, ONGC down by 2.46%, HDFC Bank down by 1.89%, HDFC down by 1.75% and Coal India was down by 1.64% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 43.28 points or 0.16% to 26,763.39, Hang Seng decreased 224.89 points or 0.84% to 26,453.49, Shanghai Composite declined 6.51 points or 0.19% to 3,398.36, Straits Times trembled 8.38 points or 0.29% to 2,849.64 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 8.97 points or 0.06% to 14,249.96.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite soared 26.62 points or 0.44% to 6,140.00 and KOSPI was up by 1.75 points or 0.06% to 2,772.18.