Markets continue lacklustre trade in late afternoon session

Local equity benchmarks continued their lacklustre trade in late afternoon session. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were also trading in red. Traders were cautious after department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee observes that the stimulus package announced by the government for the economic revival from the pandemic hit economy has been found to be inadequate as the measures adopted were more of loan offering and long-term measures instead of improving the cash flow to generate demand as immediate relief. Besides, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 9.5 percent for the fiscal year to March 31, 2022 as the onset of a severe second COVID-19 wave cut into recovery momentum. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors awaited a Federal Reserve report for signs of when U.S. stimulus might be withdrawn. European markets were trading higher, as encouraging earnings reports from British bank Barclays and luxury group Kering helped investors look past worries about China's regulatory crackdown that kept markets on edge this week.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52,250.46, down by 328.30 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 51802.73 and 52673.69. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.15%, while Small cap index was down by 0.45%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.91%, Metal up by 0.71%, TECK up by 0.27% and FMCG was up by 0.12%, while Utilities down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.83%, Energy down by 0.78%, Auto down by 0.64% and PSU was down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.22%, Indusind Bank up by 1.80%, Tata Steel up by 1.11%, Bajaj Finserv up by 0.87% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.99%, NTPC down by 1.98% and Power Grid down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad has said that the government has taken a number of steps to facilitate digital banking, doorstep banking services and digital lending platforms.

Giving details of the steps, the Minister stated that these include: online bill discounting for MSMES has been enabled on a competitive basis through Public Sector Banks (PSBs) onboarding onto the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform and the proportion of online discounted bills has grown rapidly.

The Minister further said that there is no proposal under consideration of the Government for setting up of a Digital Banking Infrastructure Corporation (DBI). As per inputs from banks, some PSBs have held discussions to set up a corporation to create a common digital infrastructure platform as a joint initiative of the banks, with a view to enable enhanced access to consumers and businesses for credit offerings.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15,651.50, down by 94.95 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 15513.45 and 15767.50. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.19%, Divi's Lab up by 2.12%, SBI Life up by 1.80%, Indusind Bank up by 1.74% and JSW Steel up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.28%, Cipla down by 2.12%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.03% and Tata Motors down by 2.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 slipped 388.56 points or 1.39% to 27,581.66, Taiwan Weighted dropped 134.65 points or 0.78% to 17,135.22, Shanghai Composite declined 19.59 points or 0.58% to 3,361.59 and Jakarta Composite was down by 8.53 points or 0.14% to 6,088.52. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 0.19 points or 0.01% to 3,139.00, KOSPI rose 4.33 points or 0.13% to 3,236.86 and Hang Seng was up by 387.45 points or 1.54% to 25,473.88.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.36 points or 0.23% to 7,012.44, France’s CAC increased 43.75 points or 0.67% to 6,575.67 and Germany’s DAX was up by 39.80 points or 0.26% to 15,558.93.