Markets slip into red on profit-booking

Indian markets despite a positive start are unable to keep their momentum in the afternoon trade and slipped into red terrain as hike in fuel prices seem to weigh on the investor sentiment, as it would result into a spike in inflation. Traders took note of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s statement that new International Monetary Fund forecasts due in April will show that the war in Ukraine will slow global economic growth, but will not cause a global recession. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 384.48 crore on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher cheered up with the rally in Wall Street overnight.

Back home, on the sectoral front, Auto, Capital Goods, TECK were the top losers, while Utilities, Power, Healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading slightly in the green, while the market breadth on the BSE was negative; there were 1591 shares on the gaining side against 1717 shares on the losing side while 120 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57791.89, down by 197.41 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 57742.03 and 58416.56. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.22%, Power up by 1.09%, Healthcare up by 0.82%, Oil & Gas up by 0.14% and Realty was up by 0.08%, while Auto down by 0.68%, Capital Goods down by 0.59%, TECK down by 0.41%, Bankex down by 0.41% and Metal was down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.24%, ITC up by 0.84%, Indusind Bank up by 0.35%, Reliance Industries up by 0.31% and Bajaj Finance was up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.95%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.62%, Asian Paints down by 1.29%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.27% and HDFC was down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution has appreciated the government's efforts to cut the Bill on food subsidy during 2021-22 in comparison to 2020-21. However, the Committee feels that food subsidy is still very high and there is still scope to reduce it further. It noted that allocation of funds - in respect of food subsidy during 2021-22 is Rs 2,90,573.11 crore but actual expenditure as on February 11, 2022, is Rs 2,20,445.61 crore only i.e. 76 per cent of allocation.

The Committee urged the department to optimize the food subsidy bill without compromising the demands of beneficiaries as well as being prepared for addressing unwarranted situations like the COVID-19 pandemic in future by preparing a backup plan. The panel also regretted that after 24 years of launching of Decentralized Procurement Scheme (DCP), the same has been adopted by only nine States/UTs for wheat and 16 States/UTs for rice. It suggested that the department should make earnest efforts to motivate the remaining States to adopt the scheme.

The committee applauded the government for launching Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) to provide an additional allocation of food-grains from the central pool at 5 kg per person per month free of cost for all the beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for a total period of 19 months during the year 2020-21 and 2021-22. It asked the department to make an objective assessment to find out the impact of this scheme on beneficiaries and how long it needs to be continued further.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17263.75, down by 51.75 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 17245.65 and 17442.40. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.40%, Divi's Lab up by 2.06%, Hindalco up by 1.01%, ITC up by 0.84% and Shree Cement was up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.23%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.93%, Coal India down by 1.64%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.62% and Britannia Inds was down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher, Shanghai Composite gained 9.33 points or 0.29% to 3,269.19, KOSPI rose 25.05 points or 0.92% to 2,735.05, Hang Seng increased 367.71 points or 1.68% to 22,256.99, Nikkei 225 surged 816.05 points or 3% to 28,040.16, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 171.66 points or 0.98% to 17,731.37 and Straits Times was up by 17.52 points or 0.52% to 3,367.69. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 12.31 points or 0.18% to 6,988.51.