Key gauges extend losses in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in morning deals, on account of sustained selling by funds and retail investors in the blue chip counters, amid weak cues from the global markets. Sentiments remained down-beat with depositories data showed that overseas investors have pulled out a net Rs 1,14,855.97 crore from the Indian markets in the current year so far, amid heightened geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns. Foreign portfolio investors have sold domestic equities worth Rs 48,261.65 crore so far this month, taking the year-to-date tally this year to a massive Rs 1,14,855.97 crore. Some concern also came with report that as many as 421 infrastructure projects, each entailing investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.73 lakh crore. Market participants overlooked Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement that Indian economy can grow consistently at 8 per cent for the next 20 years leading to the generation of up to 1.5 crore new jobs and bringing out 3.5 crore people out of the poverty every year on the basis of the capital investment strategy of the government.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed amid concerns regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, hawkish policy stance by the Federal Reserve and a lockdown in Shanghai, China's financial hub. Back home, stocks related to rubber industry remained in watch as the draft rubber bill has proposed a series of steps, including replacement of periodic licensing with one-time registration, removal of permission requirement for possession of natural rubber and laying down clear procedures for inspection, in order to promote ease of doing business and growth of the sector.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56955.39, down by 406.81 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 56883.11 and 57494.36. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.87%, while Small cap index was down by 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.47%, Energy up by 0.20% and Telecom up by 0.01%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.45%, Industrials down by 0.93%, IT down by 0.91%, Capital Goods down by 0.87% and Bankex down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.60%, ITC up by 0.51%, Reliance Industries up by 0.29% and Sun Pharma up by 0.24%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.10%, HDFC Bank down by 1.66%, Nestle down by 1.58%, HCL Technologies down by 1.45% and Asian Paints down by 1.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that Indian economy can grow consistently at 8 per cent for the next 20 years leading to the generation of up to 1.5 crore new jobs and bringing out 3.5 crore people out of the poverty every year on the basis of the capital investment strategy of the government. He said that the government has set a target of increasing the capital investment level in the budget from 27 per cent of the GDP to 35 per cent of the GDP over the next few years.

He further said that India has been a consumption-led economy in the past and the Prime Minister has taken a path of faith to increase capital investment despite reluctance from several economists. He stated ‘Many of the European countries followed the prescription of the noble laureates and they are in a very bad situation. We decided to choose the path which had three elements- public investment, very focussed consumption and reforms and incentives for private industries.’

He said Germany, the US, Japan, China and South Korea have followed the same path of capital investments for several years. Besides, he mentioned the country's nominal GDP at the end of the financial year 2021 was Rs 198 trillion and the target was to reach Rs 225 trillion. He added in this Rs 198 trillion economy, close to Rs 116 trillion came from consumption which is about 59 per cent of the GDP and Rs 53 trillion came from investment which is only about 27 per cent of the GDP. The government after analysing that its liability is around 60 per cent of the GDP, decided to go for increasing capital investments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17028.05, down by 124.95 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 17017.55 and 17196.60. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 1.29%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24%, Cipla up by 0.63%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.62% and ITC up by 0.51%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.21%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.05%, UPL down by 1.80%, HDFC Bank down by 1.68% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 278.47 points or 1.3% to 21,683.35, Jakarta Composite soared 26.55 points or 0.38% to 7,029.08, Straits Times advanced 12.17 points or 0.36% to 3,425.86 and KOSPI rose 1.62 points or 0.06% to 2,731.60.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 4.12 points or 0.13% to 3,208.12, Nikkei 225 slipped 133.19 points or 0.47% to 28,016.65 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 165.10 points or 0.93% to 17,511.85.