Indices continue sluggish trade in late afternoon session

Key benchmark indices continued their sluggish trade in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty falling above 140 and 25 points, respectively. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Reliance Industries and Ultratech Cement. Sentiments remained down-beat even after Reserve Bank retained the real GDP growth projection at 9.5 per cent for 2021-22 as domestic economic activity has started normalising with the ebbing of the second wave of the virus and the phased reopening of the economy. In the June monetary policy, the RBI had lowered the growth projection for 2021-22 to 9.5 per cent from 10.5 per cent estimated earlier. On the sectoral front, airline sector remained in focus, as rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that domestic air passenger traffic jumped 57 percent to around 49 lakh in July 2021 as compared to June this year when it was about 31.1 lakh, reflecting a significant sequential as well as year-on-year growth amid a decline in coronavirus infections. As against June 2020, the growth is 132 percent.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Focus shifted to key U.S. jobs data due later in the day after Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said conditions for an interest rate hike could be met in late 2022. European markets were trading mostly in red.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54,351.02, down by 141.82 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 54256.98 and 54633.58. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.50%, Utilities up by 1.48%, Power up by 1.33%, Industrials up by 0.58% and PSU was up by 0.41%, while Energy down by 1.41%, Realty down by 0.49%, Consumer Durables down by 0.36%, Basic Materials down by 0.32% and Healthcare was down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.08%, NTPC up by 1.72%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.57%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.48% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.03%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.68%, Nestle down by 1.11%, Axis Bank down by 0.94% and Tata Steel down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35 percent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 4.25 percent.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of RBI also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent within a band of +/- 2 percent, while supporting growth.

On the economic growth front, projection for real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is retained at 9.5 percent in 2021-22 consisting of 21.4 percent in Q1; 7.3 percent in Q2; 6.3 percent in Q3; and 6.1 percent in Q4 of 2021-22. Real GDP growth for Q1:2022-23 is projected at 17.2 percent. On the inflation front, CPI inflation is now projected at 5.7 percent during 2021-22: 5.9 percent in Q2; 5.3 percent in Q3; and 5.8 percent in Q4 of 2021-22, with risks broadly balanced. CPI inflation for Q1:2022-23 is projected at 5.1 percent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,267.10, down by 27.50 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 16235.55 and 16336.75. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &Special up by 2.96%, Indusind Bank up by 2.04%, Indian Oil up by 1.97%, NTPC up by 1.72% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.23%, Reliance Industries down by 2.07%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.68%, Shree Cement down by 1.53% and Nestle down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 76.84 points or 0.44% to 17,526.28, Hang Seng decreased 25.29 points or 0.1% to 26,179.40, Shanghai Composite declined 8.32 points or 0.24% to 3,458.23, KOSPI fell 5.77 points or 0.18% to 3,270.36, Straits Times trembled 3.59 points or 0.11% to 3,171.51 and Jakarta Composite was down by 1.99 points or 0.03% to 6,203.43. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 91.92 points or 0.33% to 27,820.04.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.85 points or 0.18% to 7,107.58 and France’s CAC was down by 12.42 points or 0.18% to 6,768.77. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX increased 9.72 points or 0.06% to 15,754.39.