Bourses widen losses in late afternoon session

Local equity markets widened their losses in late afternoon session after no signs of positive developments occurred between Russia-Ukraine again raised the concerns about global supplies of oil. Sentiments were also weak on report of rising COVID cases in China. As for broader indices, Small cap index continued to trade in green, while BSE Mid cap index remained in red. Traders paid no heed towards European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg’s statement that 'huge business opportunities exist for India and Austria to enhance bilateral trade and investments. The bilateral trade between the two countries has crossed $ one billion and it shows what kind of potential we have'.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after last week's rally while oil prices extended gains, with investors keeping tabs on the Ukraine war as Turkey said Kyiv and Moscow were edging towards a ceasefire agreement. European markets were trading higher helped by gains in energy stocks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57431.27, down by 432.66 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 57250.43 and 58127.95. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.87%, Basic Materials up by 0.82%, Consumer Durables up by 0.66%, Healthcare up by 0.43% and Energy was up by 0.28%, while Utilities down by 1.32%, Power down by 1.22%, Bankex down by 1.11%, FMCG down by 1.00% and Capital Goods was down by 0.78% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.19%, Sun Pharma up by 1.45%, Tata Steel up by 1.42%, Titan Company up by 1.22% and Wipro up by 0.58%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 2.60%, SBI down by 2.33%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.27%, Power Grid down by 2.08% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.00% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1529077 new jobs in the month of January 2022.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 5503 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 286294 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 403410, 225331, 323327 and 285212 new payrolls, respectively in January 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17170.50, down by 116.55 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 17112.40 and 17353.35. There were 14 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remain unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.42%, Hindalco up by 3.36%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.11%, ONGC up by 2.06% and UPL up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 3.67%, Britannia down by 2.96%, Tata Consumer down by 2.78%, Shree Cement down by 2.70% and Ultratech Cement down by 2.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 103.84 points or 0.59% to 17,560.36, Straits Times advanced 20.72 points or 0.62% to 3,351.35, Shanghai Composite gained 2.62 points or 0.08% to 3,253.69 and Jakarta Composite was up by 0.21 points or 0% to 6,955.18. On the flip side, KOSPI fell 20.97 points or 0.77% to 2,686.05 and Hang Seng was down by 191.06 points or 0.89% to 21,221.34.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.48 points or 0.49% to 7,441.21, France’s CAC increased 17.03 points or 0.26% to 6,637.27 and Germany’s DAX was up by 20.59 points or 0.14% to 14,433.68.