Benchmarks continue to trade lower in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks recovered from their early lows but were down by more than two and half percent in morning trade, mirroring weak global markets amid growing concerns surrounding the deteriorating Ukraine crisis. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of the expiry of monthly futures & options (F&O) contracts due by the end of the session. Traders also took a note of RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra’s statement that India's GDP will be just one per cent above the pre-pandemic level even after the estimated 9.2 per cent growth in FY22, and this factor coupled with comfort on inflation make the RBI to continue with the accommodative monetary policy. Making it clear that India's slide on growth began in 2017, much before the pandemic, Patra said the country has lost up to 15 per cent of output forever, which has resulted in the loss of livelihoods as well.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, amid escalation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Ukraine has declared a state of emergency and Moscow has begun evacuating its Kyiv embassy. Back home, on the sectoral front, Healthcare industry’s stocks remained in focus as a private report stated that India has the potential to generate a staggering $774 billion revenue in the healthcare sector by 2030. It added with an investment of $217 billion, the country can create 12 million jobs in healthcare and allied sectors, which can impact 1.5 billion lives by 2030. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55595.95, down by 1636.11 points or 2.86% after trading in a range of 55147.73 and 55996.09. All 30 stocks were declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 3.02%, while Small cap index was down by 3.16%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom down by 4.60%, Realty down by 3.74%, Auto down by 3.46%, TECK down by 3.28% and Industrials down by 3.11%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top losers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank down by 4.20%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.04%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.87%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.78% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.50%, while there was no gainer.

Meanwhile, RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra has said India's GDP will be just one per cent above the pre-pandemic level even after the estimated 9.2 per cent growth in FY22, and this factor coupled with comfort on inflation make the RBI to continue with the accommodative monetary policy. Making it clear that India's slide on growth began in 2017, much before the pandemic, Patra said the country has lost up to 15 per cent of output forever, which has resulted in the loss of livelihoods as well.

He stated ‘India is in a comfortable position as far as inflation is concerned. And, since that is there, we have the headroom to support growth and we will do so because we are dealing with lost output, lost livelihoods.’ He mentioned that the 6.01 per cent headline inflation in January is the peak level and the same will decline to the RBI's target of four per cent by the December 2021 quarter.

On growth, he said India, which had one of the strictest lockdowns on entering the pandemic in 2020 that led to a nearly one-fourth contraction in the economy in Q1FY21, was the second worst-hit country after Peru. ‘And, if you knock out the fiscal stimulus, India exceeds the depression of Peru. So, we have dug out of the deepest recessions in the world,’ Patra added

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16591.45, down by 471.80 points or 2.77% after trading in a range of 16453.65 and 16705.25. All the 50 stocks were declining on the index..

The top losers on Nifty were Tata Motors down by 5.25%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.33%, Indusind Bank down by 4.12%, Tata Steel down by 3.74% and Tech Mahindra down by 3.65%, while there was no gainer.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 774.83 points or 3.27% to 22,885.45, Taiwan Weighted dropped 376.23 points or 2.08% to 17,679.50, Jakarta Composite lost 112.62 points or 1.63% to 6,807.44, Shanghai Composite declined 53.85 points or 1.54% to 3,435.30, KOSPI fell 67.64 points or 2.49% to 2,651.89, Straits Times trembled 100.59 points or 2.96% to 3,292.41 and Nikkei 225 slipped 532.51 points or 2.01% to 25,917.10.