Bourses extend downward trend in late afternoon session

Key benchmark indices extended their downward trend in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. There were no gaining on sectoral indices on BSE. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were too trading lower. Caution persisted among investors globally after Bank of England warned of ‘material risk’ to UK financial stability. Besides, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelenskiy that the United States will provide Ukraine with advanced air systems after a devastating missile barrage from Russia. Traders took note of amid growing external headwinds, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is leaving for the US to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid worries about relentless Federal Reserve tightening and the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine following heavy Russian attacks. European markets were trading lower as bond yields jumped amid concerns of persistently high inflation as well as the impact of hawkish central bank policies on global growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57666.76, down by 324.35 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 57567.41 and 58027.52. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.83%, while Small cap index was down by 0.65%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.14%, Metal down by 1.77%, Consumer Durables down by 1.45%, Telecom down by 1.39%, TECK down by 1.13%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.09%, Asian Paints up by 2.04%, Power Grid up by 0.53%, SBI up by 0.51% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.87%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.30%, Nestle down by 1.95%, Tata Steel down by 1.65% and Infosys down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, assuring that the government will do everything to address the requirements of various stakeholders, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said that the Government is committed to keep logistics costs down and increase Ease of Doing Business.

While talking about the National Single Window System for Business Approvals, the Union Minister said that Government’s aim behind Single Window System is to ensure that a person sitting anywhere in the world should be able to get all approvals to locate their business in India, buy land or set up business in the country, with a click of a button.

Goyal further noted that the Central and state governments are working hand in hand to transform the country. Besides, reiterating the significance of the infrastructure sector for economy, the Union Minister said that there are various examples wherein infrastructure has created power and economy and brought alive new opportunities. The Minister also said that Macroeconomic fundamentals are strong, infrastructure is being built at a rapid pace and India is the destination the world is looking up to.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17128.35, down by 112.65 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 17102.20 and 17261.80. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.01%, Axis Bank up by 2.01%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.44%, Power Grid up by 0.50% and Bajaj Finserv up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 4.11%, Indusind Bank down by 2.95%, Eicher Motors down by 2.68%, JSW Steel down by 2.36% and Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 714.86 points or 2.64% to 26,401.25, Taiwan Weighted dropped 596.25 points or 4.35% to 13,106.03, Hang Seng decreased 384.30 points or 2.23% to 16,832.36, Jakarta Composite lost 55.26 points or 0.79% to 6,939.14, KOSPI fell 40.77 points or 1.83% to 2,192.07 and Straits Times was down by 1.48 points or 0.05% to 3,105.99. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 5.64 points or 0.19% to 2,979.79.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 78.69 points or 1.13% to 6,880.62, France’s CAC decreased 39.09 points or 0.67% to 5,801.46 and Germany’s DAX was down by 97.52 points or 0.79% to 12,175.42.