Local equities continue to sink in red

Indian bourses continued to trade in red terrain in noon session with Sensex and Nifty trading down by 277 and 73 points respectively. Stocks from Consumer Durables, Healthcare and Realty counters were trading lower, while Metal, PSU and Energy counters were supporting the markets. Sentiments were fragile as report of ICRA stated that the fresh rupee denominated bond issuances witnessed a sharp decline of 45 per cent to Rs 1.3 lakh crore in Q1 FY2022 on a YoY and a QoQ basis (Rs 2.3 lakh crore each in Q4 FY2021 and Q1 FY2021). Some anxiety also came as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were stood as net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs. 178.51 crore on Tuesday. Meanwhile, according to private report government is planning to finish Air India, BPCL privatisation in this fiscal. The government wants to complete the privatisation of Air India and BPCL and it is getting ‘sufficient interest’ in the companies. On the global front, ahead of U.S. inflation data offering a glimpse at how the world’s largest economy is recovering.

Back home, currently BSE Sensex is trading at 54277.94, down by 276.72 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 54167.20 and 54758.74. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.49%, while Small cap index was down by 2.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.63%, PSU up by 0.39%, Energy up by 0.33%, Oil & Gas up by 0.22% and Basic Materials was up by 0.09%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.16%, Healthcare down by 1.97%, Realty down by 1.92%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.73% and Industrials was down by 1.34% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.48%, Power Grid up by 1.54%, NTPC up by 1.49%, Reliance Industries up by 0.37% and TCS was up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.30%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.25%, Sun Pharma down by 2.10%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.03% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Council for Leather Exports (CLE) Chairman Sanjay Leekha has said that India’s leather and footwear exports are expected to touch about $6 billion in the current financial year (FY22) on account of healthy demand in key global markets. He also urged the government to release pending refunds under MEIS (merchandise export from India scheme) as non-availability of liquidity is a major concern for exporters as of now.

Similarly, Leekha said this year's All Industry Rates of Drawback should be immediately revised to compensate for the duties imposed on the wet blue, crust, and finished leather as well as embellishments used in production. He noted that the industry is labour intensive, providing employment to 45 lakh people. The sector has a total turnover of $17.09 billion, which includes exports of $5.09 billion and domestic industry turnover of $12 billion during 2019-20.

CLE Chairman further said the sector has the potential to reach a total turnover of $30 billion in next five years, which includes the domestic turnover of $20 billion and export turnover of $10 billion and generate additional employment for 15 lakh more people.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16206.80, down by 73.30 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 16162.55 and 16338.75. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 3.63%, Hindalco up by 2.92%, Tata Steel up by 2.62%, Indian Oil Corp up by 1.71% and Power Grid was up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 2.48%, Tata Consumer Products down by 2.45%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.32%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.30% and Sun Pharma was down by 2.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times trembled 26.18 points or 0.82% to 3,181.18, Taiwan Weighted dropped 96.46 points or 0.56% to 17,227.18, KOSPI was down by 22.57 points or 0.7% to 3,220.62.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 4.59 points or 0.13% to 3,534.52, Hang Seng increased 0.51 points or 0% to 26,606.13 and Nikkei 225 was up by 182.36 points or 0.65% to 28,070.51.