Markets wipe out opening gains to trade lower in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made flat-to-positive start on Tuesday but failed to hold gains and slipped below natural lines amid mixed global cues. Markets are trading lower with marginal cut in early deals due to selling in Auto, Telecom and Basic Materials stocks. Some cautiousness came in with a private survey report stating that in the wake of COVID-19 and new digital operations, banking and financial institutions have been struggling to deal with an increasing number of fraud incidents and the trend is expected to continue. Though, downside remained capped with RBI article stating that India’s overall economic activity remains strong, driven by an upbeat consumer confidence and uptick in bank credit, and expectations that Omicron may turn out to be a flash flood rather than a wave have further brightened the prospects. It also said that India has attracted higher FDI flows and continues to remain among the top attractive destinations for international investors. Besides, tightening rules for initial public offering (IPO), Sebi has put a cap on the usage of the issue proceeds for unidentified future acquisitions and restricted the number of shares that can be offered by significant shareholders.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed following the lack of cues from Wall Street overnight due to a holiday. Traders digested Chinese GDP data that showed a stronger than expected pace of expansion of the Chinese economy, which will bode well for the region and for a global economy recovery. Investors also continued to track updates about the surge in coronavirus cases across the world, and reacted to earnings reports and other corporate news. Back home, Sugar industry stocks were in limelight as industry body ISMA said India's sugar exports during October-December period jumped nearly four-fold to 17 lakh tonnes on higher demand from overseas. In scrip specific development, Maharashtra Scooters traded higher as its net jumped 25 per cent YoY to Rs 3.30 crore in the quarter ended December 2021. Total income was up 32 per cent YoY at Rs 10.72 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61181.28, down by 127.63 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 61144.95 and 61475.15. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.52%, while Small cap index was down by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.88%, Oil & Gas up by 0.39%, Bankex up by 0.24%, Power up by 0.21%, Utilities up by 0.17%, while Auto down by 1.34%, Telecom down by 1.24%, Basic Materials down by 1.07%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 0.75%, Sun Pharma up by 0.68%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.53%, TCS up by 0.33% and HDFC Bank up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.89%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.50%, Tata Steel down by 1.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.80% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s export growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the country is on track to achieve the $650-billion export target set for goods and services in the ongoing fiscal year (FY22). He added that the $400-billion merchandise exports target is within sight and the services sector should also strive towards meeting the $250-billion target.

He highlighted that ‘In December alone, we touched $37-billion goods exports despite the Omicron fear factor weighing high. This month, till January 15, we have reached $16 billion’. India exported merchandise worth over $301 billion in April-December, achieving three-fourth of the annual target. The minister also assured the export promotion councils (EPCs) that the government will handhold them and resolve their issues to achieve even higher export targets in the next fiscal year.

He also assured the industry representatives to pursue their demands during the various Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. He added ‘the government is willing to listen to new ideas, engage with industry at every level and work as enabler, facilitator and partner’. India's overall exports (merchandise and services) during April-December 2021 are estimated to be $479.07 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 36.31 per cent over the same period last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18256.95, down by 51.15 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 18246.70 and 18350.95. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.11%, IOC up by 1.05%, Axis Bank up by 0.90%, Sun Pharma up by 0.63% and ONGC up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 3.09%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.09%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.29%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.65% and Grasim Industries down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng fell 45.90 points or 0.19% to 24,172.13, Taiwan Weighted lost 1.33 points or 0.01% to 18,524.11, KOSPI declined 19.02 points or 0.66% to 2,871.08 and Jakarta Composite slipped 56.12 points or 0.84% to 6,588.93. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 153.42 points or 0.54% to 28,486.94, Straits Times added 6.63 points or 0.20% to 3,294.58 and Shanghai Composite was up by 33.22 points or 0.94% to 3,574.89.