Markets trade volatile in late afternoon session

Local equity benchmarks traded near neutral line with negative bias in late afternoon session. Volatility spiked in afternoon deals ahead of weekly expiry due later in the day. The broader indices were witnessing selling pressure as BSE Mid cap index declined 0.82% and Small cap index was down by 0.67%. Traders were cautious as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) turned net seller of the US currency in October 2021, after it sold $100 million on a net basis in the spot market. In the reporting month, the central bank had bought $ 7.755 billion from the spot market and sold $7.855 billion, showed the monthly RBI bulletin for December 2021. Sector wise, automotive industry remained in focused, as ratings agency ICRA in its latest report has revised downwards growth forecast for the domestic passenger vehicles industry to 8-11 percent in the ongoing fiscal (FY22) from the earlier estimate of 14-17 percent on account of the ongoing semiconductor shortage.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after the Federal Reserve said it would accelerate its pullback of economic stimulus. European markets were trading higher after French manufacturers' confidence unexpectedly improved in December. The business confidence index rose to 111 in December from 110 in the previous month. The score was forecast to fall to 109.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57764.24, down by 23.79 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 57716.40 and 58337.20. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.82%, while Small cap index was down by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.96%, IT up by 0.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.67%, TECK up by 0.65% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.30%, while Utilities down by 1.10%, Realty down by 1.07%, Power down by 0.88%, Auto down by 0.82% and Healthcare was down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.49%, Infosys up by 1.85%, Titan Company up by 1.37%, Reliance Industries up by 1.03% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.61%, Sun Pharma down by 1.50%, ICICI Bank down by 1.21% and Indusind Bank down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to deepen digital payments in the country, the Union Cabinet has approved an incentive scheme to promote RuPayDebit cards and low-value (upto Rs. 2,000) BHIM-UPI transactions (Person-to-Merchant (P2M)) in the country.              

Under the scheme, the acquiring banks will be incentivised by the Government, by way of paying percentage of value of transactions (P2M) done through RuPay Debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI modes of payments, at an estimated financial outlay of Rs.1,300 crore for a period of one year with effect from April 01, 2021.

This scheme will facilitate acquiring Banks in building robust digital payment ecosystem and promoting RuPay Debit card and BHIM-UPI digital transactions, across all sectors and segments of the population. It will also help in making accessible digital modes of payments to unbanked and marginalized populations, who are outside of the formal banking and financial system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17208.15, down by 13.25 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17195.90 and 17379.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.50%, Infosys up by 1.85%, Titan Company up by 1.40%, BPCL up by 1.35% and ONGC up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.94%, Hindalco down by 1.88%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.63%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.59% and Eicher Motors down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Nikkei 225 surged 606.60 points or 2.13% to 29,066.32, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 125.64 points or 0.71% to 17,785.74, Hang Seng increased 54.74 points or 0.23% to 23,475.50, Shanghai Composite gained 27.39 points or 0.75% to 3,675.02, Straits Times advanced 18.88 points or 0.61% to 3,133.76 and KOSPI was up by 17.02 points or 0.57% to 3,006.41. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 31.46 points or 0.47% to 6,594.80.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 77.55 points or 1.08% to 7,248.30, France’s CAC increased 98.07 points or 1.42% to 7,025.70 and Germany’s DAX was up by 253.05 points or 1.64% to 15,729.40.