Markets remain in red in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in red and trading with cut of over quarter a percent in late morning deals amid fears emanating from a sharp rise in cases of coronavirus in many countries. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the Covid situation in India in a meeting today after four cases of the Omicron sub-variant driving the massive China surge were found in the country. Some cautiousness also prevailed in the markets, as former Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has opined that cutting trade with Beijing at this juncture would amount to sacrificing India's potential economic growth, amid demands for snapping trade ties with China for its transgressions on the border.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green following positive cues from US markets. Japan’s market traded higher as the government revised up its growth forecast for the next fiscal year. Back home, on the BSE sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in  TECK, IT and Basic Materials, while selling was witnessed in Utilities, Industrials, Power, Metal and Capital Goods.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60899.78, down by 167.46 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 60788.99 and 61464.38. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.91%, while Small cap index down by 1.90%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were TECK up by 0.30%, IT up by 0.04%, and Basic Materials up by 0.02%, while Utilities down by 1.69%, Industrials down by 1.60%, Power down by 1.47%, Metal down by 1.33% and Capital Goods down by 1.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.07%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.82%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.81%, Sun Pharma up by 0.63% and SBI up by 0.08%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.26%, Tata Steel down by 1.97%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.91%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.82% and NTPC down by 1.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the demand for finished steel in India is expected to grow 8 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2021. It said supported by the government's infrastructure-led growth model, domestic finished steel demand has registered a double-digit growth of 11.9 per cent in the first eight months of the current fiscal.

However, ICRA said domestic steel companies ‘face a bumpier road ahead’ as the external environment becomes more challenging due to elevated inflation/ energy prices and rising interest rates.  It also said given the expectation of a slowdown in the pace of economic activity over the next few quarters, domestic steel demand growth is likely to moderate to 6-7 per cent in FY24.

It further said dependence on external financing to meet committed expansion plans is likely to increase going forward. A gradual increase in the steel industry's borrowing levels has already been noticed during the first half of ongoing FY23.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18141.20, down by 57.90 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 18106.60 and 18318.75. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.12%, Grasim Industries up by 0.98%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.84%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.76% and Sun Pharma up by 0.54%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.21%, UPL down by 2.18%, Tata Motors down by 2.14%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.80% and NTPC down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 134.09 points or 0.51% to 26,521.81, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 175.55 points or 1.23% to 14,409.95, Straits Times advanced 16.08 points or 0.49% to 3,272.27, Shanghai Composite gained 2.39 points or 0.08% to 3,070.80, KOSPI rose 18.59 points or 0.8% to 2,347.54 and Hang Seng increased 452.93 points or 2.36% to 19,613.42. However, Jakarta Composite lost 12.08 points or 0.18% to 6,808.58.