Markets witness bloodbath in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks halted three-day rally and made gap-down opening on Thursday on the back of subdued global cues. Markets are trading deeply in red with cut of one and half a percent in early deals due to selling in almost all the sector indices, led by Metal, Bankex and Basic Materials, except Power. Sentiments remained downbeat as India’s tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,156,748, with a daily increase of 15,000 in total cases. Death toll has reached 157,471, with 110 fatalities in a day. India's count of active cases has jumped to 175,044. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 13th among worst-hit nations by active cases. The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,169,330), Kerala (1,064,279), Karnataka (952,037), Andhra Pradesh (890,080), and Tamil Nadu (852,478). Maharashtra is now contributing more than half of fresh coronavirus infections in India, fanning fears of a second wave in the state. Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the need of the hour is to reduce logistics cost in the country as India cannot be competitive if this cost remains high.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading lower following negative cues overnight from Wall Street as bond yields rose again after trending lower over the past few sessions, fueling inflation concerns. Surging oil prices is also weighing on the market amid speculation that OPEC+ producers might decide against increasing output at a key meeting later today. Back home, sugar industry stocks were in focus as ISMA said that India's sugar production rose by 20 per cent to 233.77 lakh tonnes in the first five months of 2020-21 marketing year ending September on higher cane production, and demanded hike in MSP of the sweetener to boost mills' liquidity position. In scrip specific developments, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones advanced after it agreed to buy a Rs 1,954-crore stake in Gangavaram Port from Warburg Pincus. However, HDFC fell after cutting home loan rates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 50672.31, down by 772.34 points or 1.50% after trading in a range of 50633.13 and 50957.29. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.25%, while Small cap index was down by 0.02%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Power up by 0.05%, while Metal down by 3.14%, Bankex down by 1.99%, Basic Materials down by 1.56%, Energy down by 1.26%, Auto down by 1.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The few gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.45%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.45% and Infosys up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.62%, HDFC Bank down by 2.52%, HDFC down by 2.50%, Axis Bank down by 2.19% and Larsen & Toubro down by 2.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister Piyush Goyal has stressed on improving Indian quality standards to ensure that India is recognised as a quality-conscious country with which people can do business with confidence. He said ‘we must work towards ensuring India's recognition at the global stage as a quality conscious country, as a country with which people can do business with the confidence that they will get what we say, they will receive what they require. And they can be assured that an Indian product is a high quality product.’

Talking on Easing Compliance of BIS Certifications, Goyal said that quality is profit, and it prepares businesses for greater profits and quality speaks for itself, and is not expensive. He pointed out that it adds to the productivity, helps businesses to get bigger markets so that they can get economies of scale and helps to eliminate wastage. He said ‘I think now with the onset of an Indian standard one national standard representing quality, productivity, affordability, accessibility, which should truly make the Indian standard a world-wide accepted standard. And when we go anywhere in the world, a standard that we make in India should be respected, recognised, appreciated and be the gold standard of quality.’

The minister called for more and more use of artificial intelligence, big data and other technology-related solutions to help resolve standardisation issues facing industry and other entrepreneurs. He noted that the certification process will be simplified, stating that BIS should ensure the cost of testing never becomes a detriment to conforming to quality and getting certification, the minister said, adding that there will be reduction of fee for the certification for MSMEs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15016.25, down by 229.35 points or 1.50% after trading in a range of 15006.75 and 15101.05. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The few gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.20%, ONGC up by 0.88%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.28% and BPCL up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.87%, JSW Steel down by 3.80%, Hindalco down by 3.26%, Tata Motors down by 2.77% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 833.72 points or 2.82% to 28,725.38, Hang Seng declined 749.02 points or 2.51% to 29,131.40, Taiwan Weighted lost 315.78 points or 1.95% to 15,895.95, KOSPI fell 57.56 points or 1.87% to 3,025.43, Jakarta Composite plunged 79.03 points or 1.24% to 6,297.73, and Shanghai Composite was down by 56.66 points or 1.58% to 3,520.24, while Straits Times gained 8.14 points or 0.27% to 3,008.51.