Equity markets extend losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extended their losses in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty falling above 580 and 165 points, respectively. The broader indices, BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in red. Traders failed to take any sense of relief from Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that India’s economy will start witnessing a growth of 6.5 to 7 percent from fiscal 2023 onwards, helped by various reforms undertaken by the government so far and also as COVID-19 vaccination drive progresses. He said the second wave of COVID-19 is unlikely to have a very significant on the economy. The economic impact of that has been limited because the second way was much shorter in duration compared to the first wave and the economic restrictions that were placed were primarily at the state level. Traders took note of report that Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence that India will play a leadership role in the area of renewable energy in the years to come.

On the global front, All Asian markets were trading lower amid fears of rising inflation and a surge in coronavirus cases, while oil prices fell on oversupply worries. European markets were trading lower as markets digested the latest OPEC + announcement regarding oil production, and continued to brood on inflation and rising Covid-19 cases.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52557.89, down by 582.17 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 52460.52 and 52821.17. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.60%, while Small cap index was down by 0.19%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.34% and Realty was up by 0.06%, while Bankex down by 1.90%, Metal down by 1.38%, Auto down by 1.01%, Consumer Durables down by 0.76% and Consumer Discretionary was down by 0.68% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 0.84%, Nestle up by 0.25%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.21% and Power Grid up by 0.13%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.37%, Indusind Bank down by 2.80%, HDFC down by 2.24%, Axis Bank down by 2.19% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles Piyush Goyal has expressed confidence that India will play a leadership role in the area of renewable energy in the years to come.

Minister of Commerce & Industry further said 'battery technologies are going to be very important for our sustainability mission & for renewable energy to progress more, and we are investing heavily on batteries now.'

Talking about the progress made by the country in renewable energy, Goyal said that several decades ago, India was amongst the initial countries to promote hydro generation of power- 1st small hydro power plant started functioning in Darjeeling way back in 1897.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15754.00, down by 169.40 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 15729.45 and 15836.90. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.40%, Divi's Lab up by 0.99%, NTPC up by 0.88%, Tata Consumer up by 0.52% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.24%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 3.41%, Indusind Bank down by 2.73%, HDFC down by 2.33%, Axis Bank down by 2.24% and Adani Ports down by 2.12% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng decreased 514.90 points or 1.84% to 27,489.78, Nikkei 225 slipped 350.34 points or 1.25% to 27,652.74, Taiwan Weighted dropped 106.00 points or 0.59% to 17,789.25, Jakarta Composite lost 55.12 points or 0.91% to 6,017.39, KOSPI fell 32.87 points or 1% to 3,244.04, Straits Times trembled 32.84 points or 1.04% to 3,119.46 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.18 points or 0.01% to 3,539.12.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 89.73 points or 1.28% to 6,918.36, France’s CAC decreased 84.13 points or 1.3% to 6,375.95 and Germany’s DAX was down by 195.12 points or 1.26% to 15,345.19.