Benchmarks trim losses in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in afternoon session, but continue to trade below the neutral lines with Sensex and Nifty trading below at 51950 and 15600 respectively. Stocks from oil and gas, consumer durables and energy counters were supporting the markets, while those from metal, basic materials and realty counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. Traders were worried as State Bank of India (SBI) revised India's growth outlook downwards for the current financial year as the second wave of Covid-19 and the resultant restrictions will again cripple economic activities. The latest SBI Ecowrap report has projected a 7.9 per cent growth for India's GDP, down from its previous projection of 10.4 per cent growth. However, markets trimmed most of their losses as the output of eight core sectors jumped by 56.1% mainly due to low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly higher as investors looked ahead to U.S. jobs data for reassurance the biggest global economy is improving following the previous month’s big hiring miss.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 51902.40, down by 35.04 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 51808.88 and 52228.65. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.41%, while Small cap index down by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.71%, Consumer Durables up by 0.70%, Energy up by 0.52%, PSU up by 0.24% and FMCG was up by 0.12%, while Metal down by 2.04%, Basic Materials down by 1.30%, Realty down by 1.12%, Telecom down by 0.51% and Healthcare was down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.52%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.91%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.76%, SBI up by 1.26% and HDFC was up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.41%, ICICI Bank down by 1.27%, Bajaj Finserv down by 0.75%, Infosys down by 0.70% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries jumped by 56.1 percent in April 2021, mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity. The eight infrastructure sectors had contracted by 37.9 per cent in April 2020 due to lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of coronavirus infection. In March 2021, the eight sectors had recorded a growth rate of 11.4 percent. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  

Among eight core sectors, Steel production having 17.92 percent weight declined by 20.7 percent in April, 2021 over April,2020 and Its cumulative index declined by 9.0 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.  Fertilizer production having 2.63 percent weight declined by 5.3 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020, while its cumulative index increased by 1.5 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85 percent weight declined by 3.3 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 0.5 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil production having 8.98 percent weight declined by 4.6 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 5.2 percent during April to March, 2020-21over the corresponding period of previous year. Natural Gas production having 6.88 percent weight declined by 1.1 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 8.2 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04 percent weight decreased by 8.2 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 11.2 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37 percent weight declined by 15.2 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 11.9 percent during April to March, 2020-21 over the corresponding period of previous year. Coal production having 10.33 percent weight declined by 46.0 percent in April, 2021 over April, 2020 and its cumulative index declined by 1.9 percent during April to March, 2020-21over corresponding period of the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15556.90, down by 25.90 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 15528.30 and 15660.75. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.52%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.92%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.72%, SBI up by 1.30% and HDFC was up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.75%, JSW Steel down by 2.17%, Grasim Industries down by 2.06%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.34% and Hindalco was down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 93.95 points or 0.55% to 17,162.38, KOSPI rose 17.95 points or 0.56% to 3,221.87, Shanghai Composite gained 1.28 points or 0.04% to 3,616.76, Straits Times advanced 5.59 points or 0.18% to 3,169.87 and Hang Seng was down by 161.28 points or 0.55% to 29,313.08. On the other hand; Nikkei 225 was down by 45.74 points or 0.16% to 28,814.34.