Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally lower on Monday. Markets made a negative start, as climbing Covid-19 infections in the country were dampening domestic sentiments. India reported 47,009 fresh Covid-19 cases today pushing the overall tally to 11,645,719, according to Worldometer. With this, India has registered its highest daily spike of 2021. The death toll from the infection jumped to 160,003. Sentiments remained down-beat with report that the International Monetary Fund pointed to emerging signs of a stronger global economic recovery, but warned that significant risks remained, including the emergence of mutations of the coronavirus.

Key indices added more losses in the early afternoon deals and remained lower for the whole trading session. Traders got cautious, as the year-long pandemic left households more indebted, which has sharply jumped to 37.1 percent of GDP in Q2 of FY21, while their savings rate plunged to a low 10.4 percent, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank. The household savings plunged as the pandemic has led to tens of millions losing jobs and almost all forced to take deep pay-cuts, forcing them to borrow more or dip into their savings to meet expenses.

However, in the last hours of the trade, markets cut most of their losses, after the retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1335884 new jobs in the month of January 2021 as against revised figure of 1081398 in December 2020. Traders took support with Sebi data showing that investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market rose to Rs 91,658 crore at February-end, making it the highest level in 33 months, suggesting growing confidence of overseas investors.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower amid fears of a third wave of COVID-19 across the bloc, and an escalating row between the UK and European Union (EU) over access to AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) vaccine. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday, after the Bank of Japan decided Friday to widen the range at which it permits the yields of government bonds to fluctuate and scrapped the average exchange traded fund buying target. The board, governed by Haruhiko Kuroda, voted 8-1 to maintain the interest rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts that financial institutions maintain at the central bank.

The BSE Sensex ended at 49771.29, down by 86.95 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 49281.02 and 49878.77. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.99%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.86%, IT up by 1.73%, FMCG up by 1.59%, TECK up by 1.43% and Basic Materials up by 1.02%, while Bankex down by 1.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.68%, PSU down by 0.60%, Energy down by 0.42% and Telecom down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 2.38%, TCS up by 2.17%, Sun Pharma up by 2.07%, Infosys up by 1.87% and HCL Tech. up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.33%, Power Grid down by 2.95%, ICICI Bank down by 2.23%, HDFC Bank down by 1.55% and Axis Bank down by 1.38% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1335884 new jobs in the month of January 2021 as against revised figure of 1081398 in December 2020.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 6558 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 266152 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 347771, 186471, 269096 and 259836 new payrolls, respectively in January 2021.

The CNX Nifty ended at 14736.40, down by 7.60 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 14597.85 and 14763.90. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 5.19%, Britannia up by 2.82%, TCS up by 2.60%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.44% and Sun Pharma up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.32%, Power Grid down by 2.89%, ICICI Bank down by 2.25%, Tata Motors down by 1.91% and HDFC Bank down by 1.89% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.86 points or 0.33% to 6,686.85, France’s CAC decreased 36.28 points or 0.6% to 5,961.68 and Germany’s DAX was down by 6.88 points or 0.05% to 14,614.12.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday as worries persisted about a recent surge in global bond yields and inflation. South Korean shares declined as foreigners offloaded local stocks following the mixed end in Wall Street stocks last weekend. Japanese shares ended lower due to heavy selling pressure after a fire at semiconductor supplier Renesas Electronics’ plant fanned worries about more chip supply shortfalls hitting vehicle production. Meanwhile, the Japanese government lifted the state of emergency in the Tokyo region. Chinese shares ended up as the world’s second-largest economy kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans unchanged for an 11th straight month at its March fixing, matching market expectations.