Benchmarks continue to trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in morning deals, amid weak global market trends and persistent foreign fund outflows. As per exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers  in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,278.42 crore on Monday. Firm crude oil prices in the international market also put pressure on equities. Traders overlooked a report by the government think-tank NITI Aayog estimates India’s gig economy could employ 2.35 crore people by FY30, representing a three-and-a-half-times increase over 10 years. The gig economy employed around 68 lakh people in FY20. Meanwhile, India and the European Union (EU) resumed negotiations, after a gap of over eight years, for a comprehensive free trade agreement, a move aimed at strengthening economic ties between the two regions. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as investors remained cautious, while reassessing the outlook for the interest rate hikes by major central banks amid persistent inflation and a potential recession.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52845.45, down by 315.83 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 52771.53 and 53023.04. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.56%, while Small cap index was down by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.08%, Energy up by 0.69%, Oil & Gas up by 0.39% and PSU up by 0.06%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.16%, Telecom down by 1.52%, Realty down by 1.21%, Power down by 1.06% and TECK down by 1.00% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.22%, Reliance Industries up by 0.94%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.91%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.56% and SBI up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.90%, Titan Company down by 3.66%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.03%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.91% and Wipro down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil in its latest report has said that a fourth of Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have lost 3 per cent or more of their respective market share to big corporations during the Covid pandemic. It analysed MSMEs from 69 sectors and 147 clusters having a revenue of Rs 47 lakh crore or a fourth of India's GDP to arrive at the details on how the small businesses fared during the pandemic.

It mentioned that half of these companies which witnessed a loss of market share also saw a contraction in their operating profit. It can be noted that the impact of the pandemic on the smaller businesses has been a subject of interest because of their vulnerabilities due to size.

Its director Pushan Sharma said ‘large ones leveraged their global presence to procure raw materials, so could eat up a huge chunk of the SME pie. He said supply chain disruptions impacted small pesticides manufacturers more, while edible oil SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) lost market share due to an increase in hygiene quotient as the pandemic meant less buyers for oil sold in loose. He added pesticides and edible oil SMEs suffered margin contraction of 1 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, due to partial pass-through of the increase in raw material costs, which jumped by 60 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15731.65, down by 100.40 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 15710.15 and 15792.35. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.30%, ONGC up by 1.80%, Coal India up by 1.24%, Eicher Motors up by 0.96% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 4.08%, Titan Company down by 3.74%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.20%, Divi's Lab down by 2.18% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 190.41 points or 0.86% to 22,039.11, Taiwan Weighted dropped 119.06 points or 0.77% to 15,428.95, Jakarta Composite lost 44.77 points or 0.64% to 6,971.29, Straits Times trembled 8.89 points or 0.28% to 3,128.65 and Shanghai Composite declined 2.11 points or 0.06% to 3,377.08.

On the flip side, KOSPI rose 6.63 points or 0.28% to 2,408.55 and Nikkei 225 surged 82.12 points or 0.31% to 26,953.39.