Sensex, Nifty remain under pressure

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning session, as both Sensex and Nifty remained under pressure with sharp losses. Negative cues from other Asian markets impacted domestic sentiments. Traders were cautious, as India’s economy has bounced back amazingly from the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown over the last one year, but it is not out of the woods yet, according to the World Bank, which in its latest report has predicted that the country’s real GDP growth for fiscal year 21/22 could range from 7.5 to 12.5 per cent. The Washington-based global lender, in its latest South Asia Economic Focus report released ahead of the annual Spring meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that the economy was already slowing when the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, even after the manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in March, and at a faster rate, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.9. That beat expectations for 51.0 and was up from 50.6 in February, moving further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The NBS also said its non-manufacturing PMI came in at 56.3, up sharply from 51.4 in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49642.13, down by 494.45 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 49561.86 and 50050.32. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.81%, Basic Materials up by 0.64%, FMCG up by 0.63%, Healthcare up by 0.41% and Auto up by 0.37%, while Bankex down by 1.70%, Power down by 1.04%, Energy down by 0.28%, Capital Goods down by 0.22% and Telecom down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.40%, Sun Pharma up by 0.87%, TCS up by 0.86%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.82% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.82%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.96%, HDFC down by 3.64%, Power Grid down by 3.05%, ICICI Bank down by 1.79% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is expected to further extend the existing foreign trade policy (FTP), which is scheduled to lapse from April 1 this year, for few more months. FTP provide guidelines for enhancing exports to push economic growth and create jobs.

Amid the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown, on March 31, 2020, the government had extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 for one year till March 31, 2021. Stakeholder consultation is going on for the new policy and the existing policy could be extended for few more months.

In such a policy, the government announces support measures for both goods and services exporters. Exports during April-February this fiscal dipped by 12.23 per cent to $256 billion. Imports during the period too declined by 23.11 per cent to $340.8 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $84.62 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14730.95, down by 114.15 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 14703.50 and 14813.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.34%, UPL up by 2.19%, Tata Steel up by 1.73%, ITC up by 1.61% and SBI Life Insurance up by 1.57%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.86%, HDFC down by 3.73%, Power Grid down by 2.82%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.74% and ICICI Bank down by 1.67% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 251.69 points or 0.86% to 29,181.01, Taiwan Weighted dropped 117.66 points or 0.71% to 16,437.24, Straits Times trembled 2.02 points or 0.06% to 3,188.87, Hang Seng decreased 88.69 points or 0.31% to 28,488.81, KOSPI fell 2.03 points or 0.07% to 3,067.97, Shanghai Composite declined 21.22 points or 0.61% to 3,435.46 and Jakarta Composite lost 107.98 points or 1.78% to 5,963.46.