Markets trade slightly lower in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made gap down opening on Monday tracking weakness in global peers amid rising coronavirus cases and fresh lockdowns in some countries. With 24,589 fresh Covid-19 cases, India's caseload stood at 10,056,248. The country's death toll has mounted to 145,843. Soon, markets managed to trim some of their losses and are trading lower with marginal cut in early deals. Some respite came in with Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur’s statement that India has the potential to achieve double-digit growth through a healthy dose of digital services and manufacturing base expansion which will be driven by demand from the rural sector, youth and the aspirational middle class. Some support also came in with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India would be the engine of global growth, along with a few other countries, contributing to the revival of the global economy in a significant way.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as the coronavirus situation in parts of North Asia such as Japan and South Korea remains severe. Though, the downside remained limited after US Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a hard-fought agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package. The deal offers temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans.

Back home, power stocks were buzzing as India’s power consumption grew 4.8 percent to 50.36 billion units (BU) in the first half of December this year, compared to 48.04 BU during December 1-15 last year, showing consistency in economic activities. In scrip specific development, Reliance Industries gained as the company and its partner BP announced the first gas from the R Cluster, ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46847.34, down by 113.35 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 46693.95 and 46932.18. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.42%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.90%, Energy up by 0.64%, Healthcare up by 0.37%, IT up by 0.24%, Industrials up by 0.14%, while PSU down by 1.22%, Bankex down by 1.15%, Auto down by 1.08%, Power down by 1.08%, Metal down by 1.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.40%, Reliance Industries up by 1.19%, Sun Pharma up by 1.01%, Infosys up by 0.53% and HCL Technologies up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.18%, ICICI Bank down by 2.14%, Power Grid down by 1.83%, Axis Bank down by 1.73% and SBI down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s economic growth, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that India has the potential to achieve double-digit growth through a healthy dose of digital services and manufacturing base expansion which will be driven by demand from the rural sector, youth and the aspirational middle class.

The minister of state for finance said that in the past six years, the Modi government has consistently introduced reforms that have brought about significant changes. He said ‘And now all indicators, from inflation to fiscal deficit, from forex reserves to current account deficit, from GDP growth to financial inclusion - all point to a very stable and sustainable economic position’.

Talking about the recovery post unlock, he said it has been broad-based and has not come only from the agriculture sector. Of the 48 high-frequency indicators used by the Reserve Bank to track the economy, 30 parameters overtook the February's level. He said ‘We have seen stellar recovery in passenger vehicle sales, 2-wheeler sales, oil consumption, steel production, cement production, international air cargo amongst other areas’.

Due to the gradual and thoughtful unlocking of the lockdown and the resumption of the business activities in the second quarter, he said ‘we are looking at a strong economic revival, based on strong fundamentals and a slew of structural reforms’. Thakur said India is building a conducive ecosystem for enterprises and entreprenuers to emerge as dominant global players.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13732.10, down by 28.45 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 13674.40 and 13741.90. There were 9 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.08%, Cipla up by 1.80%, Reliance Industries up by 1.40%, Sun Pharma up by 1.29% and Infosys up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.97%, GAIL India down by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.94%, Divis Lab down by 1.92% and ICICI Bank down by 1.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 declined 135.63 points or 0.51% to 26,627.76, Straits Times lost 4.44 points or 0.16% to 2,844.54, Hang Seng fell 54.41 points or 0.21% to 26,444.19 and KOSPI slipped 8.35 points or 0.30% to 2,763.83. However, Taiwan Weighted added 65.09 points or 0.46% to 14,315.05, Jakarta Composite surged 78.17 points or 1.28% to 6,182.49 and Shanghai Composite was up by 19.82 points or 0.58% to 3,414.72.