Domestic indices trade under pressure in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Monday amid mixed Asian cues. Soon, markets extended their losses and are trading around half a percent cut in early deals. Some cautiousness crept in as Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on March 26, the fourth increase in five days as oil firms passed on to consumers the spike in cost of raw material. Traders were concerned as India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves dipped by $2.59 billion in the week ended March 18, recording a sharp drop for the second consecutive week as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) heavily sold dollars to prevent slide in the value of rupee. Market participants overlooked Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that India can double its economy in about 7-8 years if it grows at 8 per cent, which is feasible as the country has sustained a growth rate of 8.5 per cent earlier for a long time.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed after China's financial hub of Shanghai announced a coronavirus lockdown, spurring worries about a hit to global activity. Traders also continued to monitor the lingering geopolitical situation amid the escalation of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis and the increasing sanctions on Russia. Back home, sugar industry stocks were in focus as the government said India’s sugar export is estimated to rise by 7 per cent to 75 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 marketing year ending September. In scrip specific development, shares of PVR and INOX Leisure were buzzing after the country's two largest multiplex operators said they would merge to create a theater chain with more than 1,500 screens.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57090.35, down by 271.85 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 56996.30 and 57494.36. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.41%, while Small cap index was down by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.90%, Energy up by 0.56%, Metal up by 0.33%, Auto up by 0.19%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.06%, Bankex down by 0.76%, Capital Goods down by 0.53%, Telecom down by 0.49%, Industrials down by 0.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.82%, ITC up by 0.79%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.46%, Tata Steel up by 0.26% and Sun Pharma up by 0.21%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.70%, HDFC Bank down by 1.66%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.33%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.12% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing confidence over India’s healthy economic growth, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that the country can double its economy in about 7-8 years if it grows at the rate of 8 per cent, which is feasible as the country has sustained a growth rate of 8.5 per cent earlier for a long time.

Kumar said ‘if things remain normal, and we are not witnessing the fourth wave of the pandemic or any ghastly outcome in Ukraine then we can achieve 8 per cent growth because we have done that. If we can do it, we can achieve the doubling of the economy in about 7-8 years’.

Highlighting that the target of becoming a $5-trillion economy is not rhetoric, he said that the country is already a $2.7 trillion economy and it just needs to double it. Noting that India has sustained an 8.5 per cent growth rate in 2003-2011, he said ‘we must recognise the fact that India is the only country which will have to achieve this growth (8 per cent) while fully taking care of the environment’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17069.05, down by 83.95 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 17057.75 and 17196.60. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.22%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.10%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.80%, Tata Consumer Products up by 0.72% and ITC up by 0.65%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.91%, HDFC Bank down by 1.78%, UPL down by 1.77%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.57% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Straits Times rose 12.20 points or 0.36% to 3,425.89, Hang Seng surged 290.97 points or 1.36% to 21,695.85, KOSPI added 2.48 points or 0.09% to 2,732.46 and Jakarta Composite advanced 31.92 points or 0.46% to 7,034.45. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 fell 117.49 points or 0.42% to 28,032.35, Taiwan Weighted slipped 214.84 points or 1.22% to 17,462.11 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.12 points or 0.13% to 3,208.12.