Benchmarks add more losses in late afternoon session

Local equity benchmarks added more losses in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty falling more than 170 and 30 points, respectively. Sentiments remained down-beat, as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its projection for gross domestic product (GDP) growth for fiscal 2021-22 (FY22) to 9.5 per cent from the earlier forecast of 10.5 per cent. Consumer price inflation (CPI), the central bank said, is likely to be at 5.1 per cent in FY22 as compared to the earlier forecast of 5.2 per cent (5.2 per cent in Q1; 5.4 per cent in Q2; 4.7 per cent in Q3; and 5.3 per cent in Q4) with risks evenly balanced. Sector wise, aviation stocks remained in focused, as domestic air traffic nosedived to 19.20 lakh passengers in May from around 57.3 lakh in April, registering a sharp 65-67 per cent month-on-month contraction on account of the second wave of the pandemic. With such a sharp fall, the domestic passenger traffic reached lower than the June-July 2020 levels.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as traders were awaiting the U.S. government’s latest monthly jobs report, expected later Friday. Unemployment data announced Thursday was encouraging. European markets were trading mostly in red ahead of US jobs data, with economic recovery hopes putting the main index on course for its third straight week of gains.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52,055.30, down by 177.13 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 51952.70 and 52389.02. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.17%, Industrials up by 0.93%, Capital Goods up by 0.79%, Utilities up by 0.58% and Telecom was up by 0.49%, while Bankex down by 1.09%, Consumer Durables down by 0.99%, FMCG down by 0.48%, IT down by 0.26% and TECK was down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.67%, ONGC up by 2.41%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.78%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.75% and HDFC up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.16%, SBI down by 1.41%, Titan Company down by 1.38%, ICICI Bank down by 1.33% and Axis Bank down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing  optimism, the Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has said that India’s export performance continues to be impressive, with provisional data of merchandise exports in May 2021 showing a significant growth of 67.39 per cent over May 2020 level and 7.93 per cent over May 2019 level.

Wadhawan further said that merchandise export, excluding PoL and Gems & Jewellery, increased by 45.96 per cent in May 2021 over the same period of 2020-21 and by 11.51 per cent over the same period of 2019-20.

On the import front, the Commerce Secretary noted that merchandise imports registered a positive growth of 68.54 per cent during May 2021 vis-a-vis the same period last year. As compared to May 2019, imports have declined by (-) 17.47 per cent during May 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,657.90, down by 32.45 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 15622.35 and 15733.60. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 2.79%, Coal India up by 2.72%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.70%, ONGC up by 2.49% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.15%, Titan Company down by 1.46%, SBI down by 1.40%, ICICI Bank down by 1.35% and Axis Bank down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 116.59 points or 0.4% to 28,941.52, Taiwan Weighted dropped 98.75 points or 0.57% to 17,147.41, Hang Seng decreased 47.93 points or 0.17% to 28,918.10, Jakarta Composite lost 26.34 points or 0.43% to 6,065.17, Straits Times trembled 11.79 points or 0.37% to 3,153.21 and KOSPI was down by 7.35 points or 0.23% to 3,240.08. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 7.63 points or 0.21% to 3,591.84.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.34 points or 0.17% to 7,052.01 and France’s CAC was down by 4.99 points or 0.08% to 6,502.93. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was up by 7.85 points or 0.05% to 15,640.52.