Benchmarks continue weak trade; Nifty below 17,000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in morning session triggered by weakness in broader Asian markets. The sentiments were under pressure after Icra Ratings’ statement that the securitisation volumes in microfinance loans, which saw improvement in the first nine months of FY22, may witness some impact in the fourth quarter due to concerns over the third COVID-19 wave. Some cautiousness also came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest update of World Economic Outlook has cut India's economic growth forecast to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31 (FY22) from its earlier projection of a 9.5 per cent GDP growth, on concerns over the impact of a spread of new variant of coronavirus on business activity and mobility. Meanwhile, India has initiated an anti-dumping probe against imports of a certain type of tiles, used for covering the floors in residential and commercial buildings, from China, Taiwan and Vietnam following a complaint by domestic players.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red as the Fed meeting outcome appeared more hawkish than analysts had expected. The U.S. Federal Reserve signaled its first rate hike since 2018 will happen 'soon.' Asset purchases are likely to halt in March while the process of balance sheet reduction will commence after it has begun raising rates. Also, investors turned cautious on rising concerns over political tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56838.49, down by 1019.66 points or 1.76% after trading in a range of 56674.51 and 57317.38. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.98%, while Small cap index was down by 0.79%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables down by 3.44%, Realty down by 3.08%, IT down by 2.66%, TECK down by 2.29% and Healthcare down by 2.11%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The few gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 0.47% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.01%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 4.63%, HCL Technologies down by 4.03%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.10%, Wipro down by 2.94% and Nestle down by 2.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has notified a drone certification scheme (DCS) to ensure minimum safety and quality requirements as it will boost indigenous manufacturing. It stated the drone certification scheme notified on January 26, 2022, under Rule 7 of the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021 will help in simpler, faster and transparent type-certification of drones.

It said that along with the liberalised drone rules, airspace map, the PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme and the single window DigitalSky Platform, this will help drone manufacturing industry in India, grow.  It mentioned another step in making India the drone hub of the world by 2030.

The MoCA had on September 16 last year approved a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years. The PLI scheme came as a follow-through of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, released by the MoCA on August 25, 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16969.50, down by 308.45 points or 1.79% after trading in a range of 16927.85 and 17073.15. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 0.73%, Cipla up by 0.62%, Axis Bank up by 0.45% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 4.48%, HCL Technologies down by 3.93%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.10%, Wipro down by 2.94% and Nestle down by 2.73% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 625.10 points or 2.57% to 23,664.80, Jakarta Composite lost 12.01 points or 0.18% to 6,588.81, KOSPI fell 78.10 points or 2.88% to 2,631.14, Straits Times trembled 19.06 points or 0.58% to 3,252.51, Shanghai Composite declined 30.39 points or 0.88% to 3,425.28 and Nikkei 225 slipped 864.78 points or 3.2% to 26,146.55.