Lackluster trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red zone in afternoon session with Sensex and Nifty trading below at 58200 and 17350 respectively. Traders were worried as periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that unemployment rate for all ages in urban areas rose to 10.3 per cent in October-December 2020 as compared to 7.9 per cent in the corresponding months a year ago. However, downfall remain capped as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India's economy has recovered more strongly as compared to the impact Covid-19 pandemic had on it. Meanwhile, India will get this month the third set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals under an automatic exchange of information pact with Switzerland and this will include for the first time the data about real estate properties owned by Indians there. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid surge in US inflation to a record high ramped up concerns the Federal Reserve will be forced to tighten monetary policy sooner than later. Back home, Jet Airways touched roof on planning to resume domestic operations by the first quarter of 2022, an investor consortium, whose resolution plan was approved by India's bankruptcy court earlier this year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58139.34, down by 165.73 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 57944.63 and 58314.64. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.97%, Utilities up by 0.81%, Basic Materials up by 0.62%, IT up by 0.52% and TECK was up by 0.48%, while Energy down by 1.51%, Bankex down by 0.57%, Oil & Gas down by 0.52% and Auto was down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.23%, HDFC up by 0.86%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.79% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.05%, ICICI Bank down by 1.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.87%, HDFC Bank down by 0.62% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Director general of economic think-tank NCAER, Poonam Gupta has said that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow around 10 percent during the current financial year (FY22). She noted that the reasons for this perceived optimism are: fewer supply disruptions; increased pent-up demand in the traditional and contact-intensive services; and a buoyant global economy. However, she said the real challenge would be to sustain a growth rate of 7-8 per cent in years to come.

Talking on the challenges being faced by the Indian economy, Gupta said the first one is to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and the second is to sustain post-COVID-19 growth rates of at least 7-8 per cent.  She said India has done rather well during the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily because of the rapid pace of vaccination. She noted that currently, ensuring rapid and widespread vaccination is the best pro-growth policy that any country can implement. She noted that India's economic growth surged to 20.1 per cent in the April-June quarter of this fiscal, helped by a low base in the year-ago period, amid a devastating second wave of the COVID-19.

She further said that the Economic Survey 2017-18 had shown that the investment cycles often tend to be long-drawn. Notwithstanding even this cross-country experience, India's downturn in the realm of private investment has been longer drawn than anticipated, as it has now stretched into a second decade.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17331.65, down by 37.60 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 17269.15 and 17375.50. There were 21 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.54%, Hindalco up by 2.87%, TCS up by 1.20%, HDFC up by 0.88% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.05%, ICICI Bank down by 1.76%, SBI Life Insuran down by 1.13%, Eicher Motors down by 1.05% and Adani Ports &Special down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 surged 65.53 points or 0.22% to 30,447.37, KOSPI rose 2.09 points or 0.07% to 3,127.85 and Shanghai Composite was up by 9.21 points or 0.25% to 3,712.32.

On the other hand; Hang Seng decreased 555.14 points or 2.12% to 25,650.77, Jakarta Composite lost 38.05 points or 0.62% to 6,056.82, Straits Times trembled 26.26 points or 0.85% to 3,072.54 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 28.26 points or 0.16% to 17,446.31.