Benchmarks add more losses in late afternoon session

Domestic equity benchmarks added more losses on the street in late afternoon session, with the Sensex and the Nifty falling above 900 and 200 points, respectively.  Investors remained jittery after FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey has stated India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract by 8 per cent in current financial year (FY21). The annual median growth forecast by the industry body is based on responses from leading economists representing industry, banking and financial services sector. The survey was conducted in January. Traders took note of report that India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the Union Budget 2021 must redirect the government focus in resolving demand-side issues by moving away from fixing supply side problem which has been the focus since March when the coronavirus disease (covid-19) pandemic began to pummel the economy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after the International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global growth this year and said it sees major central banks holding their policy-rate settings through 2022. European markets were trading mostly in red concerns about a slow economic recovery, while most investors kept to the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47401.68, down by 945.91 points or 1.96% after trading in a range of 47391.62 and 48387.25. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.76%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex down by 3.10%, Realty down by 2.48%, Metal down by 2.12%, Consumer Durables down by 2.11% and Oil & Gas was down by 2.10%, while there were no gainers on sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.92%, ITC up by 1.23%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.06%, HCL Tech up by 0.62% and Power Grid up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.59%, Axis Bank down by 4.16%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 3.63%, Sun Pharma down by 3.57% and ICICI Bank down by 3.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism, Union Minister for MSME Nitin Gadkari has said that by exploring new marketing avenues and export potential, the contribution of India’s MSMEs could further be increased from 30% at present to 40% in the next 5 years.

The Minister further noted that lakhs of employment could be created by empowering the village industry sector which has the potential of achieving the annual turnover of Rs 5 lakh crore.

Gadkari visited Khadi India’s flagship outlet at Connaught Place in New Delhi and launched several village industry products made by women artisans of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He visited several stalls in the outlet and appreciated KVIC for the diverse product range that created livelihood for Khadi artisans.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13980.95, down by 257.95 points or 1.81% after trading in a range of 13957.45 and 14237.95. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.10%, SBI Life up by 2.06%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.82%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.32% and Cipla up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.26%, Axis Bank down by 4.11%, GAIL India down by 3.95%, Tata Motors down by 3.87% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 3.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 89.03 points or 0.31% to 28,635.21, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 42.60 points or 0.27% to 15,701.45, Straits Times advanced 13.73 points or 0.47% to 2,959.25 and Shanghai Composite was up by 3.91 points or 0.11% to 3,573.34. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 17.75 points or 0.57% to 3,122.56, Jakarta Composite lost 31.00 points or 0.5% to 6,109.17 and Hang Seng was down by 93.73 points or 0.32% to 29,297.53.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 10.05 points or 0.15% to 6,643.96 and Germany’s DAX was down by 58.13 points or 0.42% to 13,812.86. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by13.74 points or 0.25% to 5,537.26.