Bourses trade deep in red in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded deep in red in late afternoon session. IT, Energy and TECK counters were on the priority list of the sellers. Meanwhile, the broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading marginally lower. Bajaj Finserv, HDFC and Infosys were the prime losers among heavy-weights, pushing the markets lower. Markets remained under pressure after UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its latest report has said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India in 2021 were 26 percent lower, mainly because large M&A deals recorded in 2020 were not repeated. In scrip specific development, Bajaj Auto traded lower as it has reported a fall of 21.98% in its net profit at Rs 1,214.19 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2021 as compared to Rs 1,556.28 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as China underscored its diverging monetary and economic picture by cutting benchmark mortgage rates. European markets were trading mostly in red as the global sovereign-bond selloff paused and investors turned their focus to corporate earnings.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59,255.24, down by 843.58 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 59154.17 and 60045.48. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.58%, Utilities up by 0.45%, Metal up by 0.34%, Realty up by 0.22% and Basic Materials was up by 0.18%, while IT down by 1.71%, Energy down by 1.57%, TECK down by 1.51%, Healthcare down by 0.92%, Oil & Gas down by 0.89% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 3.44%, Asian Paints up by 1.83%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.66% and Tata Steel up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.34%, HDFC down by 2.50%, Infosys down by 2.37%, TCS down by 2.08% and Reliance Industries down by 2.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its latest report has said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India in 2021 were 26 percent lower, mainly because large M&A deals recorded in 2020 were not repeated. It also noted that the FDI into India increased 27 percent to $64 billion in 2020 from $51 billion in 2019, pushed up by acquisitions in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.

The report further said that the pandemic boosted demand for digital infrastructure and services globally. It said this had led to higher values of greenfield FDI project announcements, targeting the ICT industry, rising by more than 22 percent to $81 billion. It noted that the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in India weighed heavily on the country’s overall economic activities. It stated that announced greenfield projects in India had contracted by 19 percent to $24 billion, and the second wave in April 2021 affected economic activities, which could lead to a larger contraction in 2021.

The UN trade body further said investor confidence is strong in infrastructure sectors, supported by favourable long-term financing conditions, recovery stimulus packages and overseas investment programmes. In contrast, it said investor confidence in the industry and global value chains remains weak. It added that greenfield investment project announcements were practically flat, and the number of new projects in global value chains (GVCs)-intensive industries, such as electronics, fell further.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17,701.00, down by 237.40 points or 1.32% after trading in a range of 17670.85 and 17943.70. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 3.27%, Coal India up by 1.65%, Asian Paints up by 1.59%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.11% and Grasim Industries up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.53%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.56%, HDFC down by 2.61%, Divi's Lab down by 2.60% and Infosys down by 2.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 824.50 points or 3.42% to 24,952.35, Nikkei 225 surged 305.70 points or 1.11% to 27,772.93, Jakarta Composite soared 34.89 points or 0.53% to 6,626.87, KOSPI rose 20.40 points or 0.72% to 2,862.68 and Straits Times was up by 10.88 points or 0.33% to 3,294.82. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 3.12 points or 0.09% to 3,555.06 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 9.18 points or 0.05% to 18,218.28.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 26.25 points or 0.37% to 7,146.73 and Germany’s DAX was down by 23.83 points or 0.15% to 15,785.89. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 4.98 points or 0.07% to 7,594.64.