Indian equities trade deep in red

Indian equities extended their losses in late afternoon session and hovering near the lowest point of the day on account of selling in frontline counters. Metal, Auto and PSU counters witnessed notable losses. Sentiments remained down-beat amid union ministries of health and civil aviation released new guidelines for arriving international passengers due to the increased transmissibility of Brazil, South Africa, and UK variants of COVID-19. As per the new rules, all passengers traveling to India must get an RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours of their flight departure time and the negative report has to be uploaded before boarding. Traders overlooked foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped in a whopping $33.8 billion into domestic equities and debt till February 15 this fiscal year -- the highest since FY15 when it was nearly $46 billion --taking their net outstanding investments to a record $592.5 billion. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as fears that the global recovery will fire inflation continued to niggle investor sentiment as they faced up to the fact that interest rates will not be kept at record lows forever. European markets were trading higher despite rising bond yields.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50737.94, down by 586.75 points or 1.14% after trading in a range of 50706.49 and 51432.99. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 2.56%, while Small cap index was down by 1.53%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.60%, Auto down by 3.12%, PSU down by 2.93%, Realty down by 2.37% and Bankex was down by 2.32%, while there were no gainers on the sectoral indices.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.86%, Reliance Industries up by 0.33%, Indusind Bank up by 0.17% and HDFC up by 0.13%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 5.74%, SBI down by 4.55%, Axis Bank down by 4.43%, ICICI Bank down by 3.86% and Tech Mahindra down by 3.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, few days after the announcement of the Union Budget, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Railways and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal has said that the Government is committed for the welfare of the farmers, migrant workers and consumers. This budget has special provision for the poor, the farmers and the migrant workers, the ones who provided the nation support during difficult times.

The Minister said that these measures reiterate higher commitment of the present Government towards farmers and their produce. He said the budget of 2021-22 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi expresses the confidence of India and all set to spread a new wave of “AtmaNirbharta” across the globe.

Besides, Piyush Goyal said that Union Budget 2021 touches the life of common man. He further noted that the budget takes care of the poor people who are at bottom of the pyramid and added that this budget instills a new hope for new India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14949.25, down by 169.70 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 14908.70 and 15144.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.48%, GAIL India up by 1.61%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.97%, Reliance Industries up by 0.53% and NTPC up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 6.62%, Tata Steel down by 5.68%, ONGC down by 4.79%, SBI down by 4.65% and Axis Bank down by 4.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 49.46 points or 0.16% to 30,644.73, Jakarta Composite soared 31.62 points or 0.51% to 6,231.93, KOSPI rose 20.96 points or 0.68% to 3,107.62 and Shanghai Composite was up by 20.81 points or 0.57% to 3,696.17. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 28.08 points or 0.97% to 2,880.77, Taiwan Weighted dropped 83.13 points or 0.51% to 16,341.38 and Nikkei 225 was down by 218.17 points or 0.72% to 30,017.92.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.99 points or 0.03% to 6,619.14, France’s CAC increased 19.12 points or 0.33% to 5,747.45 and Germany’s DAX was up by 29.55 points or 0.21% to 13,916.48.