Bourses trade flat in late afternoon session

The Indian equity benchmarks traded mixed in late afternoon session, as Sensex traded near neutral line with negative bias, while Nifty traded marginally in green. Wipro was top loser, falling above 6 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank and Asian Paints. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading in green. Traders took support after private report stated that Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued refunds of over Rs 1,54,302 crore to more than 1.59 crore taxpayers from April 1 to January 10. Besides, seeking suggestions and inputs to ensure continuation of fast rebound of economic activities, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal has asked Industry Bodies to prepay MSMEs to safeguard their viability and to boost employment and growth.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after the latest report of surging prices in the U.S. appeared to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates in coming months. European markets were trading lower weighed down by defensive and travel stocks, on a continuing surge in COVID-19 cases globally due to the Omicron variant and as worries persisted about a tighter monetary policy environment.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61122.13, down by 27.91 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 60949.81 and 61348.57. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.21%, Basic Materials up by 1.06%, Healthcare up by 0.98%, Power up by 0.87% and Capital Goods was up by 0.82%, while Realty down by 0.84%, Bankex down by 0.77%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.34%, Consumer Durables down by 0.33%, Telecom down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 5.26%, Sun Pharma up by 3.32%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%, Power Grid up by 1.51% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.25%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 5.92%, HDFC Bank down by 2.15%, Asian Paints down by 2.13%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.61% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, seeking suggestions and inputs to ensure continuation of fast rebound of economic activities, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal has asked Industry Bodies to prepay MSMEs to safeguard their viability and to boost employment and growth. Goyal congratulated Indian Industry for bouncing back after taking a hit due to the pandemic and for the resilience displayed while grappling with the pandemic, especially in the field of exports.

Highlighting the progress made in FTA negotiations, Goyal said that the Government was striving to conclude several Early Harvest Agreements so that their benefits could reach industry soon. He said that an FTA with UAE was nearing conclusion, negotiations were at an advanced stage with Australia and that discussions with Israel were ongoing.

Underscoring Government’s commitment towards infrastructure development and capital expenditure, Goyal said that the Centre would always support businesses activities. He also asked industry to use initiatives like the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan and India Industrial Land Bank to the best possible extent to expand and grow. The Minister observed that by and large economic, activities had not being impacted by the current Covid surge.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18217.40, up by 5.05 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 18163.80 and 18272.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 5.24%, JSW Steel up by 3.77%, Coal India up by 3.45%, Sun Pharma up by 3.38% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 6.00%, HDFC Bank down by 2.16%, Asian Paints down by 2.12%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 61.53 points or 0.33% to 18,436.93, Hang Seng increased 27.60 points or 0.11% to 24,429.77, Jakarta Composite soared 11.29 points or 0.17% to 6,658.36 and Straits Times was up by 0.85 points or 0.03% to 3,255.83. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 10.39 points or 0.35% to 2,962.09, Shanghai Composite declined 42.17 points or 1.17% to 3,555.26 and Nikkei 225 was down by 276.53 points or 0.96% to 28,489.13.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 10.46 points or 0.14% to 7,541.26, France’s CAC decreased 22.35 points or 0.31% to 7,214.84 and Germany’s DAX was down by 14.56 points or 0.09% to 15,995.76.