Bourses trade deep in red in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets traded deep in red in late afternoon session tracking negative cues from European markets. Traders avoided to take position ahead of union budget. The broader indices, The BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index traded with hefty losses. There were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. Traders took note of report that Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Reserve Bank's relations with the government have been smooth during his nearly six-year term, and credited the close coordination between the two for the quick revival of the economy after the pandemic. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red amid fears of new trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Tech stocks extended losses despite TSMC's earnings beat. European markets were trading lower as signs of deepening Sino-U.S. trade tensions along with uncertainty over U.S. President Joe Biden's path to victory in the presidential race sapped investors' appetite for risk.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 80759.45, down by 584.01 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 80678.19 and 81587.76. 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 2.01%, while Small cap index was down by 1.82%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.70%, Basic Materials down by 2.56%, Oil & Gas down by 2.49%, Energy down by 2.46% and Realty was down by 2.36%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.92%, Asian Paints up by 1.28%, Titan up by 0.52%, ITC up by 0.40% and HCL Tech up by 0.08%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.87%, JSW Steel down by 3.94%, NTPC down by 2.77%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.67% and Tata Motors down by 2.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in its latest report has said that the steps such as increasing exports, making local currency trading workable and a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union will help boost trade between India and Russia.

GTRI further noted that India should not worry over the trade deficit, as it is getting crude petroleum oil at cheaper than market rates from Russia and it is also cutting India's overall oil import bill. It said that the import surge is solely due to India's strategic procurement of crude oil from Russia influenced by favourable trade terms and Russia's need to find new markets amidst Western sanctions.

India exports a diverse range of products to Russia including smartphones, shrimp, medicine, meat, tiles, coffee, parts of airplanes and helicopters, chemicals, computers, and fruits. On this, GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said that India has competitive advantage in these products and hence the potential to export more to Russia. India should prepare a product-level strategy to promote exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24576.90, down by 223.95 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 24552.20 and 24854.80. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.19%, Asian Paints up by 1.27%, LTIMindtree up by 0.49%, Titan Company up by 0.47% and ITC up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.98%, JSW Steel down by 4.12%, Hindalco down by 4.06%, BPCL down by 3.77% and ONGC down by 3.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 529.21 points or 2.31% to 22,869.26, Hang Seng declined 364.34 points or 2.09% to 17,414.07, Nikkei 225 slipped 62.56 points or 0.16% to 40,063.79, Jakarta Composite plunged 57.45 points or 0.79% to 7,263.62, KOSPI dropped 28.89 points or 1.03% to 2,795.46 and Straits Times was down by 21.46 points or 0.62% to 3,449.70. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 5.18 points or 0.17% to 2,982.31.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 36.34 points or 0.44% to 8,168.55, France’s CAC fell 31.1 points or 0.41% to 7,555.45 and Germany’s DAX was down by 141.63 points or 0.77% to 18,213.13.