Markets continue to show sluggish trend in late afternoon session

Following weak global cues, Indian equity benchmarks continued to show a sluggish trend in late afternoon session. Financial, IT and consumer durable shares were the biggest losses on headline indices. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index, traded down above a percent each. The markets remained under pressure, after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Indian economy suffered the biggest contraction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the government has been able to contain retail inflation at 6.2 percent. She said the Budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, stands for continuity, brings stability to the economy along with predictability of taxation. She also said that the Indian economy suffered Rs 9.57 lakh crore loss due to the pandemic, compared to a loss of Rs 2.12 lakh crore during the global meltdown in 2008-09.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red and European markets were trading lower after a sell-off on Wall Street in response to a forecast-busting jump in US inflation that fanned expectations the Federal Reserve will embark on a more aggressive campaign of monetary tightening. Back home, Sector wise, Textile industry remain in focused, as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that reduction in impact of Covid-19's third wave, as well as accelerated re-opening activities, will boost textile demand in next financial year (FY23). It cited that reduction in logistics issues for export demand will aid in keeping healthy demand. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58210.93, down by 715.10 points or 1.21% after trading in a range of 57914.10 and 58447.15. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.52%, while Small cap index was down by 1.45%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were IT down by 2.42%, TECK down by 2.27%, Consumer Durables down by 2.10%, Realty down by 1.73% and Telecom was down by 1.48%, while there were no gainers on sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.02%, Tata Steel up by 0.82%, NTPC up by 0.62% and ITC up by 0.06%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.69%, Infosys down by 2.62%, HCL Tech down by 2.36%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.13% and Nestle down by 2.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Indian economy suffered the biggest contraction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the government has been able to contain retail inflation at 6.2 percent. She said the Budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, stands for continuity, brings stability to the economy along with predictability of taxation.

She stated that the objective of the budget is a stable and sustainable recovery in the economy. She also said that the Indian economy suffered Rs 9.57 lakh crore loss due to the pandemic, compared to a loss of Rs 2.12 lakh crore during the global meltdown in 2008-09.

She further said that capital spending gives much more multiplier than revenue route and therefore the government has increased public capital spending to boost the economy. She said that the government is also encouraging startups which resulted in the creation of many unicorns during the pandemic.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17391.75, down by 214.10 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 17303.00 and 17454.75. There were 6 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remain unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil up by 1.92%, Indusind Bank up by 1.10%, Tata Steel up by 1.02%, NTPC up by 0.84% and Divi's Lab up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 3.16%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.84%, Infosys down by 2.64%, HCL Tech down by 2.38% and Nestle down by 2.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Taiwan Weighted dropped 27.11 points or 0.15% to 18,310.94, KOSPI fell 24.22 points or 0.87% to 2,747.71, Shanghai Composite declined 22.96 points or 0.66% to 3,462.95, Hang Seng decreased 17.69 points or 0.07% to 24,906.66 and Jakarta Composite was down by 8.03 points or 0.12% to 6,815.61. On the flip side, Straits Times was up by 1.00 points or 0.03% to 3,429.00.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 45.14 points or 0.59% to 7,627.26, France’s CAC decreased 64.20 points or 0.9% to 7,037.35 and Germany’s DAX was down by 124.48 points or 0.8% to 15,365.96.