Markets trade flat with negative bias amid global sell-off

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-down opening on Tuesday after posting decent gains in previous session due to sell-off in the global markets. But, domestic indices managed to trim their losses and are trading near neutral lines in early deals. Buying in Power, Oil & Gas and Utilities supported the markets whereas selling in Realty, IT and Healthcare counters weighted on the indices. Traders took note of report that the 5th Annual Co-ordination meeting between Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal and Nepal’s Armed Police Force (APF) Inspector General will be held from October 5 to 7, 2021 in New Delhi. The 12-member SSB delegation will be led by DG Kumar Rajesh Chandra while the nine-member Nepalese side will be headed by the APF’s IG Shailendra Khanal. During the three days talk, both forces will hold discussions on border related issues and to enable better coordination between the both Border Guarding Forces. However, downside remained capped as Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said India has got on the path of economic recovery aided by various government reforms in the last seven years. Notwithstanding the pandemic, he said, the government continued with the reform process and many strategic reforms were announced even during Covid-19. Also, investors are eyeing the Services PMI data to be out later in the day for further direction.

Global cues remained sluggish with most of the Asian markets are trading lower following the firmly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as traders are concerned that the regulatory crackdowns and a collapse at Evergrande could hurt an already fragile Chinese economy and drag on global growth. The mood also remained cautious amid uncertainty of interest rates and the coronavirus infections in the region tempered by support from climbing crude oil prices. China remains closed for the National Day holiday.

Back home, power stocks were in focus as rating agency Ind-Ra said short-term power prices are likely to remain elevated in the near term on account of a continued increase in imported coal prices. In scrip specific development, Srei Infrastructure Finance came under pressure as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the boards of Srei Infrastructure Finance and Srei Equipment Finance, which will be taken for insolvency proceedings owing to governance concern and payment defaults by them.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59264.89, down by 34.43 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 59127.04 and 59320.14. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.95%, Oil & Gas up by 1.84%, Utilities up by 1.75%, Telecom up by 1.75%, PSU up by 1.17%, while Realty down by 0.79%, IT down by 0.63%, Healthcare down by 0.49%, TECK down by 0.33%, Consumer Durables down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.89%, Power Grid up by 1.77%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.43%, Asian Paints up by 1.02% and NTPC up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.02%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.01%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.93%, HCL Technologies down by 0.82% and ICICI Bank down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth has said India is on the path of economic recovery supported by various government reforms in the last seven years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the government continued with the reform process and many strategic reforms were announced even during pandemic. He also noted that during the pandemic period of the past 18 months, it was not just the management of the impact of the pandemic, starting from a health crisis spilling over to the real economy and thereafter some impact onto the financial sector. He said managing each of those, but with very strong emphasis on stepping up the reforms, so that the economy can bounce back with a fast growth rate, and also the potential growth rate can be built.

Talking about one of the challenges, Seth said, the credit offtake has moderated in the last 18 months due to pandemic. He said there are challenges that in the past 18 months because of the lack of private investment demand, the credit offtake has been rather moderate and that's an area where further work is needed. He noted that the focus of the government is on inclusive development, and added that the government has launched various schemes targeted to support persons, entities with weak economic capacities, not just in the pandemic period, but in the past seven years.

With regard to financial sector reforms, the secretary said the introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has led to resolution of Rs 2.4 lakh crore of stressed assets, while FDI and FPI liberalisation has bolstered the confidence of foreign investors in the Indian economy. On the infrastructure development, he said the two major plans --National Infrastructure Pipeline envisaging Rs 111 lakh crore of investment, supplemented by National Monetisation Plan to the extent of about Rs 6 lakh crore -- have been announced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17685.65, down by 5.60 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 17640.90 and 17696.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 4.91%, IOC up by 2.06%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.83%, Power Grid up by 1.64% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.95%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.13%, Sun Pharma down by 1.03%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.87% and HCL Technologies down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 514.06 points or 1.81% to 27,930.83, Straits Times slipped 23.74 points or 0.77% to 3,065.91, Taiwan Weighted fell 24.63 points or 0.15% to 16,383.72, KOSPI lost 42.67 points or 1.41% to 2,976.51 and Jakarta Composite was down by 34.37 points or 0.54% to 6,308.32, while Hang Seng rose 51.42 points or 0.21% to 24,087.79.