Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday. After a slightly positive start, markets remained lower during the trading session, as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its latest report has downgraded India’s economic growth by over 2 per cent to 4.6 percent for 2022 from earlier forecast of 6.7 percent. A decrease has been attributed to the ongoing war in Ukraine, with New Delhi expected to face restraints on energy access and prices, reflexes from trade sanctions, food inflation, tightening policies and financial instability.

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street, as traders remained cautious with S&P Global Ratings in its report said rising commodity prices, further triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, could moderate healthy recovery of the country’s economy, and put pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to normalise its monetary policy faster than anticipated. Adding some cautiousness, a private report stated that after crossing the $550-billion mark in the first 11 months of the financial year, India’s import bill is set to hit record highs in FY22 and probably touch $600 billion.

In the second half of the trading session, markets added more losses, as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 1,740.71 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed. Adding more concerns, Moody’s Investors Service has said that Indian companies’ value of investments in Russia’s oil and gas fields could be impaired as import bans and international sanctions may constraint future cash flow generating capacity. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India (OIL), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) have invested in upstream oil and gas assets in Russia.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as investors mull concerns over surging inflation and slowing growth amid the war in Ukraine. Asian markets ended mixed, even after Taiwan's unemployment rate declined slightly in February. The Directorate General of Budget Accounting & Statistics showed that the unemployment rate fell a seasonally adjusted 3.67 percent in February from 3.70 percent in January. In the same period last year, the jobless rate was 3.73 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate rose to 3.65 percent in February from 3.61 percent a month ago.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57362.20, down by 233.48 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 57100.24 and 57845.37. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.36%, while Small cap index down by 0.33%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.21%, Utilities up by 0.31%, Power up by 0.18%, Energy up by 0.14% and Oil & Gas up by 0.13%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.28%, Capital Goods down by 0.95%, FMCG down by 0.72%, IT down by 0.68% and Auto down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.77%, Asian Paints up by 0.76%, Reliance Industries up by 0.73%, SBI up by 0.69% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 3.59%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.35%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.79%, Wipro down by 1.18% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, underlining the efforts being taken to boost growth of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the Union Minister of State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma has said that all arms of the Government are working in close synchronization to ensure that entrepreneurs having tech-focused enterprises do not face any bottlenecks in their ventures.

Further, describing entrepreneurs as the ‘wealth creators’ for the economy, Verma stated that his Ministry is engaged in continuous endeavours to ensure that technology enterprises have access to all the necessary resources required for their growth.The minister also emphasized upon the need for international cooperation between MSMEs of different nations. Besides, he said that the International Cooperation Division of the Ministry was facilitating interaction between Indian entrepreneurs and their counterparts in different countries.

The minister also noted that to encourage international cooperation between various countries and the MSMEs in the country, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing International Cooperation Scheme, a Central Sector Scheme. The scheme is in operation since its inception in 1996.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17153.00, down by 69.75 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 17076.55 and 17294.90. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 1.97%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.34%, JSW Steel up by 0.87%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.76% and SBI up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 3.61%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.42%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.87%, Cipla down by 1.51% and Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 9.39 points or 0.13% to 7,457.99, France’s CAC decreased 2.78 points or 0.04% to 6,552.99 and Germany’s DAX was down by 2.80 points or 0.02% to 14,270.99.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as strong US jobless claims data fuelled concerns about faster-than-expected tightening by the US Federal Reserve. Data showed that weekly initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 187,000 last week, the lowest level since September 1969. Meanwhile, Western leaders meeting in Brussels promised more sanctions on Russia and President Vladimir Putin tried to prop up Moscow’s sinking ruble by threatening to require Europe to use it to pay for gas exports, also adding pressure on market sentiments. Seoul shares gained marginally despite concerns around North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile launch and the Ukraine-Russia war.