Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended near their intraday low points on Monday. The start of the day was on a positive note, as CBDT Chairman J B Mohaptra has stated the Income Tax (I-T) department has made the ‘highest’ tax collection in its history, when the direct tax mop up jumped over 48 per cent in the current fiscal backed by a 41 per cent surge in advance tax payments. He said the net collection numbers as on until March 16, 2022 is Rs 13.63 lakh crore against Rs 11.18 lakh crore of 2018-19, Rs 10.28 lakh crore of 2019-20 and Rs 9.24 lakh crore of 2020-21.

But soon, markets turned negative, as according to the latest data from the RBI, the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined $9.646 billion to $622.275 billion in the week ended March 11. Adding pessimism, retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers rose to 5.59 per cent and 5.94 per cent respectively in February, mainly due to higher prices of certain food items. Traders remained concerned with Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s statement that huge expenditure on welfare schemes by the Modi government has severely impacted the public finances which are currently in a mess with fiscal deficit touching abnormally high levels.

In the second half of the trading session, indices added more losses, amid reports that consumers may have to pay more for their daily essential items with FMCG companies mulling another round of price hike to offset the impact of an unprecedented level of inflation in commodity prices such as wheat, palm oil and packaging materials. Besides, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has also added another blow to FMCG makers as they expect a rise in the prices of wheat, edible oil and crude. The street overlooked the latest payroll data report stating that retirement fund body EPFO added 15.29 lakh subscribers on a net basis in January 2022, an increase of over 21 per cent compared to 12.60 lakh in December 2021.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher helped by gains in energy stocks. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, even after Japan's tertiary activity dropped for the first time in five months in January. The data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that the tertiary activity index declined 0.7 percent month-on-month in January, after a 0.1 percent increase in December. Back home, sugar industry stocks remained in focus as industry body ISMA said sugar exports have jumped over 2.5 fold between October 2021 and February this year to 47 lakh tonnes on higher production and better demand of the Indian sweetener in the global market.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57292.49, down by 571.44 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 57229.08 and 58127.95. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.68%, while Small cap index up by 0.38%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.70%, Basic Materials up by 0.23% and Healthcare up by 0.04%, while Utilities down by 1.89%, Power down by 1.81%, FMCG down by 1.46%, Bankex down by 1.30% and Capital Goods down by 1.12% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 0.41%, HDFC Bank up by 0.39%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.15%, Titan Co up by 0.09% and NTPC up by 0.04%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.93%, Asian Paints down by 2.85%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.74%, Nestle down by 2.49% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.41% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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 ended at 17117.60, down by 169.45 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 17096.40 and 17353.35. There were 9 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 3.26%, Hindalco up by 2.28%, UPL up by 1.88%, ONGC up by 1.32% and HDFC Bank up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Britannia down by 3.53%, Tata Consumer Products down by 3.17%, Power Grid down by 3.14%, Grasim Industries down by 3.11% and Shree Cement down by 2.91% were the top losers. (Provisional)

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.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday despite the war in Ukraine raged on and a high-ranking Fed official made hawkish remarks on borrowing costs, saying that it is necessary to raise the interest rate by 50 basis points at least once this year. Chinese shares ended flat with a positive bias as the People's Bank of China kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, raising concerns whether there would be adequate policy support to spur growth. Japanese shares were closed for a holiday.