Benchmarks trade lower in early deals amid weak global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Friday following weakness in global markets amid concerns over Omicron variant. Markets are trading lower with marginal cut in early deals as investors await inflation data in India and the US. Also, selling pressure in Energy, IT and TECK stocks weighted down on the markets. Traders were concerned as Health Ministry said that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in India and authorities are closely monitoring the situation. Maharashtra leads the chart with 10 cases, followed by Rajasthan with nine, while globally there are 2303 cases of Omicron variant. Though, downside remained capped as some support came in as a private report expects the economy to continue to show positive surprises and record up to 9 percent growth in the next fiscal. For the current financial year too, the report anticipates growth to be higher than the consensus forecast of 8.4-9.5 percent, and printing in at around 10.5 percent. Traders took note of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries.

All the Asian markets traded lower following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, as traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets and on news of Chinese property developer Evergrande defaulted on US dollar bonds. Traders are also concerned after several countries across the world announced stricter restrictions on movements to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Back home, the power industry stocks were in focus as dispatch of coal by state-owned CIL to the power sector increased 22.5 per cent to 340 million tonne (MT) during April-November period of the ongoing fiscal year. CIL's despatches to coal-based power plants in the year-ago period stood at 277.4 MT. Besides, shares of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health and Allied Insurance Company will list on the stock exchanges today. Also, Metro Brands issue will open today. In scrip specific development, Dr.Reddy’s gained as it launched Venlafaxine ER Tablets which is therapeutically equivalent to Venlafaxine Extended-Release Tablets, 150 mg and 225 mg, of Osmotica Pharmaceutical US LLC approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58629.61, down by 177.52 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 58546.40 and 58850.24. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer discretionary up by 0.57%, Oil & Gas up by 0.52%, Auto up by 0.46%, Industrials up by 0.45%, Healthcare up by 0.40%, while Energy down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.44%, TECK down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.29%, Consumer Durables down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.88%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.80%, Sun Pharma up by 1.38%, Indusind Bank up by 0.57% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 1.16%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.13%, Reliance Industries down by 0.93%, Axis Bank down by 0.87% and HCL Technologies down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said for a strong, sustainable and inclusive recovery of the global economy hit by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries. She stressed on the critical role of multilateralism and collective action in achieving the goal of global recovery. She also underlined the importance of inclusion, investment, innovation and institutions to support the path of global recovery.

Sitharaman emphasised on the importance of ensuring affordable and equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics to bridge the divergences being witnessed in the global economic recovery. In this context, she said so far India has administered over 1.25 billion doses of vaccines and supplied more than 72 million vaccine doses to over 90 countries, including by way of grant thereby reflecting India's commitment to co-ordinated global action.

She stressed on the importance of enhanced infrastructure investments for enabling a quick and stable return to the growth path. She also emphasised that green investments will play a key role in the rebuilding efforts of governments and called upon the G20 to deliberate on how climate finance and green technologies can be made available to developing countries so as to incentivize and accelerate their efforts towards green growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17477.10, down by 39.75 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 17434.80 and 17534.35. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 3.00%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.50%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.87%, Sun Pharma up by 1.87% and Grasim Industries up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.27%, Titan Company down by 1.14%, Divi's Lab down by 0.93%, Axis Bank down by 0.88% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 154.17 points or 0.54% to 28,571.30, Straits Times fell 7.82 points or 0.25% to 3,134.63, Hang Seng slipped 118.43 points or 0.49% to 24,136.43, Taiwan Weighted lost 60.34 points or 0.34% to 17,853.78, KOSPI dropped 18.94 points or 0.63% to 3,010.63, Jakarta Composite plunged 29.49 points or 0.44% to 6,614.44 and Shanghai Composite was down by 11.92 points or 0.32% to 3,661.12.