Markets trim most of gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed most of their gains in late afternoon session amid a mixed trend across global markets. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index, were trading above a percent. Traders were seen piling up positions in Healthcare, Realty and Basic Materials sectors while selling was witnessed in Bank and Auto sector stocks. Traders took note of report that Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh said that the green hydrogen policy will be unveiled in the next 10 days featuring incentives like free transmission for 25 years to boost production of this clean source of energy. In scrip specific, Kotak Mahindra Bank has reported a rise of 30.79% in its net profit at Rs 3,402.74 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2021 as compared to Rs 2,601.67 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as traders looked ahead to data on U.S. employment costs that might influence Federal Reserve decisions on planned interest rate hikes. European markets were trading lower amid risk-off sentiment driven by the prospects of higher interest rates and geopolitical tensions in Ukraine, while a few upbeat earnings capped losses.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57280.60, up by 3.66 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 57197.07 and 58084.33. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.37%, while Small cap index was up by 1.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.47%, Healthcare up by 1.34%, Basic Materials up by 1.30%, IT up by 1.01% and Metal was up by 1.00%, while Bankex down by 0.63% and Auto was down by 0.26% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.89%, Sun Pharma up by 1.92%, Wipro up by 1.43%, Indusind Bank up by 1.32% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.15%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.91%, ICICI Bank down by 1.45% and SBI down by 1.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its pre-budget report has said that the forthcoming budget needs to delay fiscal consolidation, instead should focus more on supporting the pandemic battered-economy and boost consumption demand by offering income tax soaps and cutting fuel taxes.

Ind-Ra is also expecting the new budget to consolidate and strengthen the plan set out in the last budget, rather than trying out new things by continue with the revenue and capital expenditure pattern of FY'22 to provide stability and consolidation to the past/ongoing efforts, and to focus on boosting demand by generating employment opportunities in areas/sectors that have been impacted more by the pandemic.

Calling for tax reliefs to households to boost demand as the purchasing power of households was badly hit since the pandemic, the report said this could be done through some income tax reliefs and lowering taxes on oil products as higher fuel prices has been driving up inflation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17164.20, up by 54.05 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 17106.55 and 17373.50. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 4.04%, UPL up by 3.17%, ONGC up by 2.84%, Sun Pharma up by 2.23% and Tata Consumer up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.17%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.79%, Power Grid down by 1.65%, ICICI Bank down by 1.20% and Eicher Motors down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Hang Seng decreased 256.92 points or 1.08% to 23,550.08, Shanghai Composite declined 32.81 points or 0.97% to 3,361.44 and Straits Times was down by 13.19 points or 0.4% to 3,246.84. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 34.35 points or 0.52% to 6,645.51, KOSPI rose 48.85 points or 1.87% to 2,663.34 and Nikkei 225 was up by 547.04 points or 2.09% to 26,717.34.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 47.22 points or 0.63% to 7,507.09, France’s CAC decreased 48.44 points or 0.69% to 6,975.36 and Germany’s DAX was down by 206.23 points or 1.33% to 15,318.04.