Indian equities add losses in late afternoon session

Indian equities added losses in late afternoon session, on the back of sustained selling activities by market-participants. Traders took note of credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to bounce back to 10.4% year on year (yoy) in FY22, primarily driven by the base effect. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the economy, although subsiding, will continue to delay the normalisation of economic activities in the contact-intensive sectors till the mass vaccination/herd immunity becomes a reality. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors ignored a stall in Wall Street's rally, with eyes firmly on the long-term outlook for the global economy as lockdowns are eased and life slowly improves. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors absorbed a mixed bag of earnings from Societe Generale, A.P. Moeller-Maersk and other corporate. Back on domestic turf, on the sectoral front, automobile sector remained in focus, as automobile dealers' body the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said that passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales witnessed a year-on-year decline of 4.46 percent to 2,81,666 units in January 2021, as semiconductor shortage impacted the segment. PV sales stood at 2,94,817 units in January 2020.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51045.78, down by 283.30 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 50846.22 and 51512.86. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.08%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.45%, Auto up by 0.45%, Consumer Durables up by 0.18% and Utilities was up by 0.08%, while Telecom down by 1.78%, Bankex down by 1.20%, Capital Goods down by 0.86%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64% and PSU was down by 0.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.68%, TCS up by 1.09%, HDFC up by 0.57% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.80%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.80%, HDFC Bank down by 1.79%, Indusind Bank down by 1.74% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to bounce back to 10.4% year on year (yoy) in FY22, primarily driven by the base effect.

As per the report, after recording negative growth during 9MFY21, GDP growth will finally turn positive at 0.3% yoy in 4QFY21. Although the recovery in FY22 on a yoy basis will be V-shaped, the size of the GDP will barely surpass the level attained in FY20 and will be 10.6% lower than the trend value.

The rating agency further noted that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the economy, although subsiding, will continue to delay the normalisation of economic activities in the contact-intensive sectors till the mass vaccination/herd immunity becomes a reality.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15038.05, down by 71.25 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 14977.20 and 15168.25. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.03%, SBI Life up by 2.08%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.86%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.70% and Grasim Industries up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 1.76%, HDFC Bank down by 1.75%, Axis Bank down by 1.66%, Indusind Bank down by 1.65% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 562.53 points or 1.91% to 30,038.72, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 96.18 points or 0.61% to 15,802.40, Nikkei 225 surged 57.00 points or 0.19% to 29,562.93, Shanghai Composite gained 51.60 points or 1.43% to 3,655.09, Jakarta Composite soared 20.16 points or 0.33% to 6,201.83 and KOSPI was up by 15.91 points or 0.52% to 3,100.58. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 12.63 points or 0.43% to 2,922.64.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 4.71 points or 0.08% to 5,686.83 and Germany’s DAX was down by 36.71 points or 0.26% to 13,975.09. On the flip side, France’s CAC decreased 4.71 points or 0.08% to 5,686.83.