Bourses trim most of gains in late afternoon session

Key benchmark indices pared most of their gains in late afternoon session but continued to trade above neutral lines. Weakness in select Metal and Basic Materials shares dragged key gauges lower, while buying in Auto and Consumer Durables stocks helped markets to trade near neutral lines. Traders took support after private report stated that Centre is considering spending an additional Rs 2 trillion ($26 billion) in FY23 to cushion consumers from rising prices and fight multi-year high inflation. The new measures will be double the Rs 1 trillion hit government revenues could take from tax cuts on petrol and diesel. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after US President Joe Biden said he was considering lifting some Trump-era trade tariffs imposed on China, although concerns over inflation and growth weighed on sentiment. European markets were trading higher as traders attempted to call an end to a downturn in global stocks driven by surging inflation and fears of major economies falling into recession. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54,364.77, up by 38.38 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 54191.55 and 54931.30. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.37%, while Small cap index was down by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.15%, Consumer Durables up by 1.24%, Capital Goods up by 1.19%, Consumer Discretionary up by 1.18% and IT was up by 1.01%, while Metal down by 7.93%, Basic Materials down by 3.35%, Oil & Gas down by 1.06%, Energy down by 0.97% and Telecom was down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.79%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.48%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.10% and Asian Paints up by 1.93%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 12.19%, ITC down by 1.59%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.53%, Power Grid down by 1.29% and HDFC Bank down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1532119 new jobs in the month of March 2022.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building &

Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 7105 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 293097 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 411009, 221554, 316606 and 282748 new payrolls, respectively in March 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16,244.30, up by 21.85 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 16207.25 and 16414.70. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.86%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.41%, Asian Paints up by 1.99% and Apollo Hospital up by 1.98%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 13.15%, Tata Steel down by 12.27%, ONGC down by 4.11%, Hindalco down by 3.53% and ITC down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Nikkei 225 surged 262.49 points or 0.98% to 27,001.52, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 11.56 points or 0.07% to 16,156.41, KOSPI rose 8.09 points or 0.31% to 2,647.38 and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.29 points or 0.01% to 3,146.86. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 23.67 points or 0.73% to 3,216.91, Jakarta Composite lost 77.36 points or 1.12% to 6,840.78 and Hang Seng was down by 247.18 points or 1.19% to 20,470.06.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 51.44 points or 0.7% to 7,441.42, France’s CAC increased 10.55 points or 0.17% to 6,295.79 and Germany’s DAX was up by 102.46 points or 0.73% to 14,084.37.