Markets trade lower in early deals tracking weak global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-down opening on Friday tracking weakness in global peers coupled with lack of any major domestic trigger. Markets are trading lower with cut of around half a percent each in early deals due to selling in Bankex, Energy and Oil & Gas counters. Some cautiousness came in with a private report that Southwest monsoon has practically stalled over most parts of the country since June 19. This has not only delayed its progress over north India but has also badly impacted the sowing of the kharif crop. Traders overlooked Industry chamber PHDCCI’s statement that the gradual receding of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has created scope for the economy to recover from the daunting impact witnessed in April and May 2021. Meanwhile, India recorded a sharp decline in new infections. The country reported 34,443 fresh cases taking the total caseload to 30,708,092, according to Worldometer.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street on downbeat US labor data and continued slump in U.S. treasury yields. Traders remain concerns about the outlook for the global economy amid considerable weakness in most markets due to the fresh wave of the highly infectious coronavirus variant.

Back home, power industry stocks were in limelight with report that power demand in the country touched an all-time high and crossed the 200 GW mark amid many states witnessing high temperatures due to delayed monsoon, and easing of coronavirus-related restrictions. In scrip specific development, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) traders under pressure after reporting lower than expected numbers for Q1. The company’s Q1FY22 net profit fell 2.6 percent to Rs 9,008 crore from Rs 9,246 crore, revenue rose 3.9 percent to Rs 45,411 crore from Rs 43,705 crore, QoQ.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52296.64, down by 272.30 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 52228.01 and 52508.24. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.71%, Healthcare up by 0.51%, Basic Materials up by 0.33%, Consumer Durables up by 0.30%, Realty up by 0.22%, while Bankex down by 0.80%, Energy down by 0.71%, Oil & Gas down by 0.48%, IT down by 0.36%, Capital Goods down by 0.36% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.75%, Sun Pharma up by 0.58%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.50% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.39%, TCS down by 1.17%, ICICI Bank down by 0.93%, HDFC Bank down by 0.92% and HDFC down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Industry chamber PHDCCI said that the gradual receding of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has created scope for the economy to recover from the daunting impact witnessed in April and May 2021.

It added at this juncture, there is a need to fuel the drivers of household consumption and private investments to enhance the aggregate demand in the economy as it will have an accelerated effect on the expansion of capital investments in the country. It said the Phdcci Economy GPS index has increased to 110.3 for June 2021 from the nine months low of 91.5 for the month of May 2021.

PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal said on the back of declining new coronavirus cases, gradual unlocking in various parts of the country, and calibrated economic reforms announced by the government, the economic recovery has resumed once again in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15657.60, down by 70.30 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 15632.75 and 15694.55. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 1.50%, JSW Steel up by 1.18%, Cipla up by 0.78%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.78% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.44%, Eicher Motors down by 1.22%, Indusind Bank down by 1.18%, ICICI Bank down by 1.00% and HDFC down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 555.23 points or 1.97% to 27,562.80, Taiwan Weighted fell 211.63 points or 1.18% to 17,654.46, KOSPI declined 52.47 points or 1.61% to 3,200.21, Jakarta Composite lost 0.93 points or 0.02% to 6,038.97 and Shanghai Composite was down by 24.34 points or 0.69% to 3,501.16. On the other hand, Straits Times rose 12.60 points or 0.41% to 3,120.19 and Hang Seng gained 190.02 points or 0.70% to 27,343.15.