Weak trade continues over Dalal Street

A weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading in red, on the back of heavy selling at IT and TECK counters along with negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious, amid a private report stating that India’s inflation quickened for the first time in four months, while manufacturing production surged more than forecast, giving the central bank reason to keep interest rates higher for longer. Adding more worries, former RBI Governor Raghuram G Ranjan said that Indian economy, dubbed the fastest growing major economy in the world, is faced with the single most important pressure point of job creation, as he makes a strong case for improvement of human capital through skill development.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan will on Wednesday release its quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The large manufacturers' index is expected to see a score of +10, up from +9 in the previous three months. The outlook is pegged at +9, down from +10. The large non-manufacturers' index is seen steady at +27, while the outlook is called at +25, up from +21. Large all-industry capex is seen higher by 12.4 percent, down from 13.6 percent in the previous three months.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 69169.01, down by 382.02 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 69100.56 and 69655.83. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.00%, Utilities up by 0.31%, Healthcare up by 0.31%, Capital Goods up by 0.26% and Industrials up by 0.25%, while IT down by 1.93%, TECK down by 1.76%, Oil & Gas down by 0.79%, Energy down by 0.68% and Metal down by 0.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.33%, Power Grid up by 1.49%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.50%, Indusind Bank up by 0.48% and ITC up by 0.36%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.78%, Infosys down by 2.59%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.10%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.82% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi has flagged lower participation by private sector banks in the government's financial inclusion drive and nudged them to step up their efforts to popularise such schemes. He also asked banks and financial institutions to work on three areas getting KYC done for inoperative accounts, nomination for bank accounts and strengthening cyber security. He noted that the flagship government insurance schemes are Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Besides PMJDY, other financial inclusion schemes include the Mudra Yojana and the StandUp India Scheme. 

Joshi stated that currently, 92 per cent of the adults in India have at least one bank account, and around 3 crore Jan Dhan accounts are added every year. He said ‘we are not far from a situation where all the adults in the country will be covered with at least one basic bank account.’ In over nine years of the launch of the PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), 51 crore bank accounts have been opened. 

He said that while private sector banks have increased their credit disbursal under the Mudra scheme, where loans are given to micro businesses, in other financial inclusion schemes, their participation is lacking. He said ‘I would request the private sector banks to increase participation in PMJDY and Jan Suraksha schemes in order to realise the ambitious goals which the government has set for itself.’ He added that financial inclusion does not only mean opening bank accounts but also providing insurance and pension coverage to customers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 20788.40, down by 118.00 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 20769.50 and 20936.00. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.29%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.69%, Power Grid up by 1.58%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.54% and Indusind Bank up by 0.54%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.92%, Infosys down by 2.63%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.13%, LTIMindtree down by 2.10% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 203.66 points or 1.26% to 16,170.84, KOSPI dropped 24.61 points or 0.98% to 2,510.66, Jakarta Composite plunged 35.85 points or 0.51% to 7,089.46 and Shanghai Composite weakened 34.68 points or 1.17% to 2,968.76, while Taiwan Weighted added 18.3 points or 0.1% to 17,468.93, Straits Times rose 0.89 points or 0.03% to 3,103.20 and Nikkei 225 surged 82.65 points or 0.25% to 32,926.35.