Sensex, Nifty remain under grip of bears

Indian equity benchmarks remained under a grip of bears in late morning session, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in deep red. Negative cues from other Asian markets impacted domestic sentiments. Traders got worried, as fears of an aggressive rate hike by the US Fed continue to dent investor sentiments with foreign investors pulling out nearly Rs 12,300 crore from the Indian equity market so far this month. Traders took note of report where government official said that several exporters have received pending payments for shipments made to Russia before February 24 -- the day Russia-Ukraine conflict began -- and Department of Financial Services is working with banks to facilitate clearance of remaining dues.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after Taiwan's unemployment rate rose slightly in March. The Directorate General of Budget Accounting & Statistics showed that the unemployment rate rose a seasonally adjusted 3.70 percent in March from 3.67 percent in February. In the same period last year, the jobless rate was 3.71 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate rose marginally to 3.66 percent in March from 3.65 percent a month ago.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56680.80, down by 516.35 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 56412.14 and 56875.65. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.57%, while Small cap index was down by 1.36%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Bankex up by 0.04%, while Metal down by 3.32%, Realty down by 3.27%, Telecom down by 2.32%, PSU down by 2.18% and Basic Materials down by 1.97% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.49%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.89%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.47% and Axis Bank up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 3.45%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.99%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.41%, NTPC down by 2.37% and ITC down by 2.20% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Economic think-tank the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in its latest report has stated that business confidence index (BCI) improved in the January-March period of this year (Q4FY22) and would remain buoyant in the coming months. It said the BCI increased for the third consecutive quarter by 14.9 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis from 124.4 points in October-December period of 2021–22 to 142.9 points in the fourth quarter. 

The upward movement in the BCI was driven by an improvement in sentiments for all the four components of the BCI -- 'overall economic conditions will improve in the next six months', 'financial position of firms will improve in the next six months', 'present investment climate is positive as compared with six months ago', and 'present capacity utilisation is close to or above the optimal level'.

NCAER further said the business sentiments for the next six months were relatively more buoyant with regard to domestic parameters like production, domestic sales and ex-factory prices than external parameters like exports and imports of raw materials. It said the sentiments of firms pertaining to the hiring of workers over the last three months were relatively stagnant in last quarter of 2021–22 as compared to the preceding three months, but future sentiments about hiring over the next six months exhibited resilience.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16992.95, down by 179.00 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 16928.60 and 17054.30. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 1.54%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.06%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.86%, Eicher Motors up by 0.51% and Axis Bank up by 0.46%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 5.66%, Coal India down by 4.30%, Tata Steel down by 3.40%, Hindalco down by 3.16% and SBI Life Insurance down by 3.13% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 493.91 points or 1.82% to 26,611.35, Taiwan Weighted dropped 399.25 points or 2.35% to 16,625.84, Hang Seng decreased 534.85 points or 2.59% to 20,103.67, Jakarta Composite lost 10.14 points or 0.14% to 7,215.47, KOSPI fell 39.85 points or 1.47% to 2,664.86, Shanghai Composite declined 74.74 points or 2.42% to 3,012.18 and Straits Times trembled 5.77 points or 0.17% to 3,355.34.