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Benchmarks trade lower in early deals
Apr-22-2021

Indian equity benchmarks made gap-down opening on Thursday, after a day’s halt as markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Ram Navami. Worries over the second wave of COVID-19 in the country and tightening of restrictions in various states weighted down on the markets. India reported 315,802 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 15,924,806. But, soon markets managed to trim their losses in early deals. Some support came in as Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the country's exports are reviving and the shipments are expected to be in the solid positive territory in this financial year. He said that exports recorded a significant contraction in April last year but gradually things started improving and the shipments have entered the positive territory. However, upside remained capped as Care Ratings revised down its forecast for GDP growth to 10.2 per cent in 2021-22 from earlier projection of 10.7-10.9 per cent, with economic activities getting affected across the country due to curbs imposed by states amid surge in COVID-19 cases.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading higher in cautious trading, recouping some of the losses of the previous two sessions, following the positive cues overnight from Wall Street. The markets are also benefiting from some bargain hunting after two successive days of losses. Back home, aviation stocks were in focus as Indian aviation regulator DGCA said around 78.22 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in March, which is slightly lower than 78.27 lakh who travelled in February. In scrip specific development, ACC gained as its consolidated profit in Q1CY21 rose 74 percent to Rs 563 crore from Rs 323 crore, while consolidated revenue increased to Rs 4,213 crore from Rs 3,433 crore, YoY.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47,502.45, down by 203.35 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 47,204.50and 47,524.49. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.93%, Healthcare up by 1.35%, Basic Materials up by 0.85%, Oil & Gas up by 0.41% and IT was up by 0.41%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.84%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.82%, FMCG down by 0.77%, Auto down by 0.73% and Capital Goods was down by 0.72% were the top losing indices.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.87%, ONGC up by 1.31%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.20%, Infosys up by 0.73% and HCL Technologies up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.54%, Indusind Bank down by 2.53%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.31%, M&M down by 1.71% and Titan Company down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with economic activities getting affected across the India due to curbs imposed by states amid surge in COVID-19 cases, Care Ratings in its latest report has revised down its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth to 10.2 per cent for current financial year (FY22) from earlier projection of 10.7-10.9 per cent. This is the third revision by the rating agency in the last one month.

It said ‘we have revised our forecast for GDP growth for FY22 as the underlying conditions have changed rapidly in the last 30 days or so. It stands now at 10.2 per cent.’ On March 24, 2021, the agency had projected GDP growth between 11-11.2 per cent based on GVA (gross value added) growth of 10.2 per cent. It mentioned the spread of the virus in Maharashtra had led to the announcement of a lockdown by the state government which began in a less stringent manner from the first week of April. Factoring the potential loss of economic output due to the restrictions in the state, the agency, on April 5, lowered its GDP forecast for the current fiscal year to 10.7-10.9 per cent.

It added but the lockdown was made more obtrusive to business activity by April 20, with more stringency expected for the forthcoming fortnight. Further, the spread of the virus to other states has caused similar actions by governments which have ranged from night curfews and weekend lockdowns to full lockdowns. The report said two events in the country -- state elections and Kumbh Mela -- have seen millions of people coming together with social distancing norms not being followed. It said this has potential to spread the virus at an exponential rate throughout the country and several states have announced measures to test people returning from the pilgrimage.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14251.75, down by 44.65 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 14151.40 and 14258.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.03%, Wipro up by 3.58%, JSW Steel up by 2.27%, BPCL up by 1.91% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.13%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.99%, Shree Cement down by 2.93%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.35%, Asian Paints down by 2.33% and Axis Bank down by 1.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 599.71 points or 2.10% to 29,108.26, Straits Times jumped 26.26 points or 0.83% to 3,181.32, Hang Seng added 121.18 points or 0.42% to 28,743.10, Taiwan Weighted rose 112.75 points or 0.66% to 17,314.86 and KOSPI gained 16.05 points or 0.51% to 3,187.71. However, Jakarta Composite fell 8.16 points or 0.14% to 5,985.08 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.70 points or 0.05% to 3,471.23.
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