Key indices trade marginally in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade marginally in red in morning deals amid weakness across most other global markets. Traders remained cautious as a Crisil report warned that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the flurry of punitive sanctions imposed on the former by the US and European nations, have the potential to cull India's imports on one hand and also lead to input cost pressure on downstream companies in India Inc. Some concern also came as rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia will burden domestic steelmakers with high input costs. However, losses remain capped as some support came with private report stating that hiring activity witnessed a 31 per cent increase in February as multiple sectors recorded strong growth compared to the previous year. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street, on inflation concerns amid the spike in crude oil prices and as traders continues to monitor developments surrounding the escalating Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52807.66, down by 35.09 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 52410.39 and 53024.21. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.78%, while Small cap index was up by 1.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.81%, IT up by 1.64%, Utilities up by 1.55%, TECK up by 1.47% and Healthcare up by 0.91%, while Metal down by 2.41%, Oil & Gas down by 1.21%, Auto down by 0.93%, Basic Materials down by 0.87% and Energy down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.36%, NTPC up by 2.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.81%, Infosys up by 1.61% and HCL Technologies up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.96%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.98%, HDFC Bank down by 1.61%, Asian Paints down by 1.58% and Axis Bank down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the Union Budget for 2022-23 stands for continuity to provide a tax predictable regime and a vision for the next 25 years. Sitharaman stated that the budget also makes sure that the country is adequately endowed to celebrate when it attains 100 years of independence.

She stated the budget brought in a lot of technology and digitisation of the economy. Underlining that the country is still coming out of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, she said the nation needs to have a support system particularly for health, which is completely stabilised and strengthened. She also stressed that there was a need for waking up for the children who have lost out on two years of education and bridging the gaps. 

She pointed out that the budget is also about making sure that states have a participatory role in whatever the Centre is doing, so that the funds are being shared with them and they can actively engage in infrastructure building as well. She mentioned broader principles of getting the synergy out of all the investments being made both by the Centre and the states for infrastructure, so that the multiplier effect is really going to benefit and the investments going to have synergetic effects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15813.50, down by 49.65 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 15747.40 and 15896.00. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 2.46%, NTPC up by 2.04%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.95%, Infosys up by 1.56% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.25%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.69%, Hindalco down by 3.57%, Tata Steel down by 3.55%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.28% and JSW Steel down by 2.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 95.66 points or 0.45% to 20,961.97, Nikkei 225 slipped 350.20 points or 1.39% to 24,871.21, Taiwan Weighted dropped 380.70 points or 2.22% to 16,797.99, KOSPI fell 18.25 points or 0.69% to 2,633.06, Shanghai Composite declined 67.03 points or 1.99% to 3,305.83, Straits Times trembled 23.86 points or 0.75% to 3,163.96 and Jakarta Composite lost 0.13 points or 0% to 6,868.94.