Bourses continue to trade under serious selling pressure in late afternoon

Indian equity markets continued to reel under pressure in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. Tata Steel was the biggest loser among the Sensex 30 stocks. Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries and NTPC were the other noticeable losers. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading below a percent. Traders failed to take support as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to launch an EU-India trade and technology council to address the challenges of ensuring trusted technology and security in the wake of rapid geopolitical changes. The strategic coordination mechanism will allow both partners to tackle challenges at the nexus of trade, trusted technology and security, and thus deepen cooperation in these fields.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower as fears grew that Beijing was on the verge of joining Shanghai in lockdowns, while the dollar rose to a two-year high on the prospect of slower growth and higher interest rates. European markets were trading lower as global risk-off sentiment swelled on concerns over a more aggressive Federal Reserve and the spread of Covid in China, outweighing optimism over French President Emmanuel Macron’s election victory.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56,492.93, down by 704.22 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 56412.14 and 56875.65. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.58%, while Small cap index was down by 1.43%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 3.73%, Realty down by 3.14%, Energy down by 2.77%, Oil & Gas down by 2.49% and PSU was down by 2.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.21%, ICICI Bank up by 1.03%, Nestle up by 0.72%, Axis Bank up by 0.53% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.39%, Reliance Industries down by 3.11%, NTPC down by 2.75%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.51% and Sun Pharma down by 2.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting the contributions of the country people in innovation and research, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the Indian diaspora to become partners in growth of the country during the next 25 years as it attains 100 years of independence.

The Finance Minister highlighted the stellar contribution of Indian diaspora in US, esp. their role in innovation & research. The minister also underlined structural reforms undertaken by GoI (Government of India) & exhorted the community to become partners in the growth of India during the Amrit Kaal.

Meanwhile, the journey of India to attain 100 years of independence from its 75th year of independence has been termed Amrit Kaal. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is visiting the US to attend IMF-WB Spring Meetings 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,931.60, down by 240.35 points or 1.40% after trading in a range of 16904.85 and 17054.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 1.22%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.00%, ICICI Bank up by 0.94%, Nestle up by 0.69% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 6.13%, BPCL down by 5.82%, Tata Steel down by 4.44%, Hindalco down by 3.56% and Reliance Industries down by 3.20% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng decreased 769.18 points or 3.73% to 19,869.34, Nikkei 225 slipped 514.48 points or 1.9% to 26,590.78, Taiwan Weighted dropped 404.19 points or 2.37% to 16,620.90, Shanghai Composite declined 158.41 points or 5.13% to 2,928.51, KOSPI fell 47.58 points or 1.76% to 2,657.13, Straits Times trembled 16.30 points or 0.48% to 3,344.81 and Jakarta Composite was down by 9.63 points or 0.13% to 7,215.98.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 156.06 points or 2.07% to 7,365.62, France’s CAC decreased 136.42 points or 2.07% to 6,445.00 and Germany’s DAX was down by 205.13 points or 1.45% to 13,936.96.