Bourses trim losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in late afternoon session but continued to trade below the neutral lines. Weakness across most sectors, led by financial and IT shares, pulled the headline indices lower. Traders failed to get any sense of relief with private report stating that president Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Appropriation (No. 5) Act, 2021 that authorizes the government to spend an additional Rs 3.73 lakh crore during the current fiscal. The Act authorizes payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2021-22. Sector wise, IT stocks remained in focus on the street as investors awaited HCL Tech's Q3FY22 result, a day after Mindtree reported has reported a rise of 34% in its net profit at Rs 437.50 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 326.50 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as a possibility of multiple and faster interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve frayed investor nerves, while a rally in the South Korean won lost steam after the central bank tightened policy. European markets were trading mostly in red with technology bearing the brunt of losses on the heels of heavy losses for that sector on Wall Street amid worries over Federal Reserve action to control inflation. EDF shares slid 20% after pulling guidance.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61130.87, down by 104.43 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 60757.03 and 61197.41. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.34%, Industrials up by 1.05%, Realty up by 0.99%, IT up by 0.59% and TECK was up by 0.41%, while Telecom down by 1.06%, FMCG down by 0.54%, Healthcare down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.41%, Metal down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.37%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.36%, TCS up by 1.03%, HDFC Bank up by 0.88% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.88%, Axis Bank down by 2.62%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.16%, HDFC down by 2.02% and Nestle down by 1.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, as per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, exports in December 2021 were $37.81 billion, as compared to $27.22 billion in December 2020, exhibiting a positive growth of 38.91 per cent. Exports for the period April-December 2021 was $301.38 billion as against $201.38 billion during the period April-December 2020, registering a positive growth of 49.66 per cent.

Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in December 2021 were $28.92 billion, registering a positive growth of 29.67 per cent over $22.30 billion in December 2020. Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports during April-December 2021 was $228.60 billion, an increase of 36.96 per cent over $166.91 Billion in April-December 2020.

On the other hand, imports in December 2021 were $59.48 billion, which is an increase of 38.55 per cent over imports of $42.93 billion in December 2020. Imports for the period April-December 2021 was $443.82 billion as against $262.76 billion during the period April-December 2020, registering a positive growth of 68.91 per cent.

Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $35.47 billion in December 2021 with a positive growth of 34.28 per cent over $26.41 billion in December 2020. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $263.43 billion in April-December 2021, recording a positive growth of 46.74 per cent, as compared to $179.52 billion in April-December 2020.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18224.90, down by 32.90 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 18119.65 and 18251.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Produc up by 4.42%, Adani Ports up by 1.68%, Indian Oil up by 1.53%, Infosys up by 1.45% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.87%, Axis Bank down by 2.67%, UPL down by 2.49%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.10% and HDFC down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 364.85 points or 1.28% to 28,124.28, Hang Seng decreased 46.45 points or 0.19% to 24,383.32, KOSPI fell 40.17 points or 1.36% to 2,921.92, Shanghai Composite declined 34.00 points or 0.96% to 3,521.26 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 33.60 points or 0.18% to 18,403.33. On the flip side, Straits Times advanced 18.34 points or 0.56% to 3,275.64 and Jakarta Composite was up by 35.04 points or 0.53% to 6,693.40.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 36.47 points or 0.51% to 7,164.67 and Germany’s DAX was down by 74.50 points or 0.46% to 15,957.09. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.65 points or 0.01% to 7,564.50.