Choppiness continues on Dalal Street in late trade amid Covid concerns

Indian markets continued to trade sluggish in last leg of trade as traders remain worried amid a spurt in cases of Covid in China and the US. Sentiments largely remain dampened with Indian health minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s statement that COVID is not over yet. He said 'I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance'. Traders also remained on the sidelines as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting held earlier this week. On the global front, Asian markets and European markets were trading mostly in green as the US consumer confidence rebounded in December, and the dollar regained stability after the Bank of Japan rocked markets with a surprise decision to loosen its grip on government bond yields.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60770.95, down by 296.29 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 60637.24 and 61464.38. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.98%, while Small cap index was down by 1.86%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services, while Industrials down by 1.91%, Utilities down by 1.79%, Capital Goods down by 1.74%, Power down by 1.68% and Realty down by 1.49% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 0.63%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.47%, Infosys up by 0.43%, Sun Pharma up by 0.31% and Asian Paints up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.69%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.48%, Tata Motors down by 2.46%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.97% and Tata Steel down by 1.69% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel has said that the bilateral Trade between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew from $87.35 billion in FY 2020-21 to $154.66 billion in FY 2021-22, registering an increase of 77.06% on a year-on-year basis.

Besides, Patel noted that during the current FY 2022-23, for the period April-October 2022, bilateral trade between India and the GCC stood at $111.71 billion, up from $79.49 billion during the same period in FY 2021-22. This is an increase of 40.53% on a year-on-year basis. During the period FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22, bilateral trade between India and the GCC has grown by 10.57% on a compounded annual growth rate basis.

Meanwhile, in November 2022, India and Gulf Cooperation Council had decided to pursue resumption of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Negotiations. With forward-looking and solution-oriented deliberations, bilateral engagements witnessed significant progress on all matters of mutual interest across the entire gamut of bilateral economic relations between India and the GCC nations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18,100.70, down by 98.40 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 18,068.60 and 18,318.75. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI Life Insurance up by 0.74%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.70%, Grasim Industries up by 0.68%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.58% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.52%. On the flip side, UPL down by 3.60%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.68%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.49%, Tata Motors down by 2.25% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 rose 120.15 points or 0.46% to 26,507.87, Straits Times advanced 17.43 points or 0.54% to 3,273.62, Hang Seng jumped 518.73 points or 2.71% to 19,679.22, Taiwan Weighted surged 208.54 points or 1.47% to 14,442.94, KOSPI added 27.78 points or 1.19% to 2,356.73 and Jakarta Composite was up by 3.77 points or 0.06% to 6,824.43, while Shanghai Composite was down by 13.98 points or 0.46% to 3,054.43.

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 37.41 points or 0.50% to 7,534.73, France’s CAC increased 25.97 points or 0.39% to 6,606.21 and Germany’s DAX was up by 47.90 points or 0.34% to 14,145.72.