Benchmarks trim some losses in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses but continued to trade lower in late afternoon session. Both Sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 48,000 and 14,400 marks, respectively. Indusind Bank, Axis Bank and Power Grid were the prime losers among heavy-weights. The sentiments remained in lackadaisical mood even after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she has taken inputs from various industry chambers on concerns of India Inc with regard to the management of COVID pandemic and the centre would continue to work with state governments to save lives and livelihood. She sought feedback from businesses to deal with the impact of the second COVID-19 wave on the country’s economy. Meanwhile, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have requested the Reserve Bank to extend the one-time restructuring scheme of MSME advances till March 31, 2022, as these players are unable to revive their businesses.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after recovery hopes for the coronavirus-battered US economy fuelled another round of record highs on Wall Street to close last week's trade. European markets were trading mostly in green extending their record-setting rally, as optimism about a solid start to the earnings season offset a worrying resurgence in Covid-19 cases globally.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47948.93, down by 883.10 points or 1.81% after trading in a range of 47362.71 and 48020.79. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.67%, while Small cap index was down by 1.51%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.60% and TECK was up by 0.21%, while Realty down by 3.41%, Bankex down by 3.18%, PSU down by 2.98%, Auto down by 2.60% and Consumer Discretionary was down by 2.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.63%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.50% and HCL Tech up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.55%, Axis Bank down by 4.19%, Power Grid down by 4.00%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.83% and ONGC down by 3.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief, the Finance Ministry has expanded the scope of the Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) which will now cover borrowers from the healthcare segment, apart from the 26 sectors identified by the Kamath Committee, amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, the government had extended the scheme by three months till June 30 and expanded its scope to cover enterprises in hospitality, travel and tourism, leisure and sporting sectors. As per the finance ministry, SMA-1 borrowers in the healthcare sector and 26 other high stress sectors (as identified by the Kamath Committee) are now eligible under ECLGS 2.0.

Special Mention Accounts (SMAs) are those which are witnessing stress and can become NPAs/stressed assets. Till February-end, Rs 2.46 lakh crore of Rs 3 lakh crore were sanctioned under the scheme by commercial banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14353.95, down by 263.90 points or 1.81% after trading in a range of 14191.40 and 14382.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.64%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.45%, Wipro up by 1.05%, HCL Tech up by 1.05% and Britannia up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.40%, Axis Bank down by 4.23%, Power Grid down by 4.15%, Adani Ports down by 3.93% and ONGC down by 3.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 136.44 points or 0.47% to 29,106.15, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 104.47 points or 0.61% to 17,263.28, Shanghai Composite gained 50.93 points or 1.49% to 3,477.55, Straits Times advanced 8.96 points or 0.28% to 3,210.72, Nikkei 225 surged 2.00 points or 0.01% to 29,685.37 and KOSPI was up by 0.22 points or 0.01% to 3,198.84. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 33.72 points or 0.55% to 6,052.54.

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.35 points or 0.18% to 7,031.88 and France’s CAC was up by 14.23 points or 0.23% to 6,301.30. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by11.57 points or 0.07% to 15,448.18.