Indices continue lackluster trade

The Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a sluggish trend in afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below their psychological levels of 52,000 and 15,300, respectively. The sentiments were under pressure as loan growth is slowing across financial markets. Growth in non-food credit slipped back below the 6% mark to 5.92% year-on-year (y-o-y) during the fortnight ended January 29 from 6.35% y-o-y in the previous fortnight. As on January 29, outstanding non-food credit stood at Rs 106.17 lakh crore, data from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with the draft guidelines for allowing derivatives trading in the credit default swaps (CDS) in over-the-counter (OTC) markets and on recognised stock exchanges in the country.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on profit booking after the stocks went bullish on optimism with the world getting back to normalcy amid reduced corona cases and faster vaccine rollout.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51971.29, down by 132.88 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 51681.48 and 52078.15. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.50%, Utilities up by 1.33%, Energy up by 1.20%, Power up by 1.08% and Telecom was up by 0.93%, while Healthcare down by 0.60%, IT down by 0.58%, Realty down by 0.45%, FMCG down by 0.41% and TECK was down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.67%, Reliance Industries up by 1.47%, Power Grid up by 1.09%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.49% and NTPC was up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.59%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.17%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.76% and Indusind Bank was down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government has said that increased emphasis on infrastructure spending in sectors like agriculture, healthcare and automobiles in the Budget 2021-22 will result in increased demand for petrochemicals like polymers and speciality chemicals in the country.

That apart, it said import duty cut on feedstocks such as naphtha for production of chemicals and petrochemicals will make the domestic products globally cost-competitive. The massive emphasis on infrastructure spending is expected to result in an additional consumption of petrochemicals like polymers and specialty chemicals. The agriculture-focused measures like doubling of outlay for micro-irrigation to Rs 10,000 crores will further fuel demand for polymer-based irrigation products and services.

Further, the government said the roll-out of the production-linked incentive schemes for key end-use sectors will boost petrochemical consumption in the country. Among the sectors earmarked, seven sectors like mobile phone manufacturing, auto components, medical devices and textile products use significant quantities of petrochemicals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15293.65, down by 19.80 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 15201.25 and 15312.15. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 3.64%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.99%, SBI up by 2.85%, GAIL India up by 2.59% and HDFC Life Insurance was up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.58%, BPCL down by 2.50%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.03%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.85% and Dr. Reddys Lab was down by 1.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite lost 59.20 points or 0.94% to 6,233.20, KOSPI fell 29.52 points or 0.93% to 3,133.73, Straits Times trembled 11.78 points or 0.40% to 2,923.56 and Nikkei 175.56 was down by 156.92 points or 0.58% to 30,292.19.

On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 339.97 points or 1.11% to 31,086.63 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 559.89 points or 3.54% to 16,362.29.