Markets trade under selling pressure in late afternoon session

Local equity benchmarks traded deeply in red in late afternoon session, with losses of above a percent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were the prime losers among heavy-weights. Traders failed to draw any sense of relief, as Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur has stated that the government will spend Rs 1.97 lakh crore on production-linked incentive (PLI) and has identified more than 10 sectors to be included, which would in turn create job opportunities for the youth. He also said people who are raising apprehension about the recovery of the economy should see GST collections of the past few months. He noted that the GST collection rose, which was over Rs 1.10 lakh crore in the last five year. This was because of the policy adopted by our government. Sentiments remain dampened, as death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 160,477. India has the 7th highest number of active cases globally. Maharashtra recorded 28,699 new Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths.

On the global front, All Asian markets were trading lower with virus and vaccine fears returning to haunt investors as Europe faces fresh infection spikes and lockdowns that could knock the economic recovery off course. European markets were trading lower, as renewed lockdowns across the eurozone and a row over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines dented sentiment ahead of the release of business activity data.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49430.40, down by 621.04 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 49253.36 and 49854.58. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.82%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.52% and Utilities was up by 0.29%, while Industrials down by 1.92%, Metal down by 1.91%, Capital Goods down by 1.91%, Bankex down by 1.88% and Auto was down by 1.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.16%, Power Grid up by 1.85%, Sun Pharma up by 0.94%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.73% and Titan Company up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.20%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.69%, ICICI Bank down by 2.67%, Axis Bank down by 2.59% and Indusind Bank down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a relief, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has raised the limit for tax exemption on interest earned on provident fund contribution by employees to Rs 5 lakh per annum in specified cases as against Rs 2.5 lakh proposed in the Budget.

The minister further noted that the concession would be available to employees only in cases where his or her employer does not make any contribution to the retirement fund. She said ''I intend to raise this limit to Rs 5 lakh only in those cases, where there is no contribution by the employer in that fund.'

Besides, the Minister said that so, most often, it is employee contribution and employer's contribution, but there are contributions which are only employee and no employer contribution is made, in such cases that amount is raised to Rs 5 lakh.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14636.40, down by 178.35 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 14579.05 and 14752.35. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.62%, Asian Paints up by 2.16%, Power Grid up by 1.96%, Sun Pharma up by 0.88% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.44%, Tata Steel down by 3.32%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.16%, Adani Ports down by 2.86% and Larsen & Toubro down by 2.78% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Nikkei 225 slipped 590.40 points or 2.04% to 28,405.52, Hang Seng decreased 579.24 points or 2.03% to 27,918.14, Taiwan Weighted dropped 145.47 points or 0.9% to 16,032.12, Jakarta Composite lost 96.57 points or 1.54% to 6,156.14, Shanghai Composite declined 44.45 points or 1.3% to 3,367.06, KOSPI fell 8.39 points or 0.28% to 2,996.35 and Straits Times was down by 2.61 points or 0.08% to 3,129.13.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 17.67 points or 0.26% to 6,681.52, France’s CAC decreased 27.28 points or 0.46% to 5,918.02 and Germany’s DAX was down by 70.23 points or 0.48% to 14,591.79.