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Markets remain in red terrain in late morning deals
Apr-22-2021

Indian equity benchmarks cut most of their losses but remained in red terrain in late morning deals. Domestic sentiments were negative, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders were worried, as domestic rating agency ICRA has cut its 2021-22 GDP growth estimate by 0.5 per cent on the upper end. The agency now expects the economy to grow 10-10.5 per cent in 2021-22, against the 10-11 per cent estimated earlier. Starting with Maharashtra, a slew of other pockets in the country like Delhi have been taking to localised lockdowns to arrest the climbing COVID-19 cases, which derails economic activity. Besides, with COVID-19 cases surging across the country, bank unions have requested industry body IBA for restriction in services and reduction in public dealing time to around 3 hours per day till the situation improves to protect bank employees from the coronavirus infection.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after S&P Global Ratings maintained Japan's sovereign ratings with 'stable' outlook. The rating was affirmed at 'A+' citing the country's exceptional external position, prosperous and diversified economy, political stability, and savings-rich financial system. Nonetheless, Japan has very weak public finances. In the next one to two fiscal years, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will put additional burden on fiscal performance and lead to a significant increase in government indebtedness, the agency observed.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47603.59, down by 102.21 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 47204.50 and 47617.60. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.83%, Healthcare up by 1.22%, Basic Materials up by 0.67%, PSU up by 0.41% and Oil & Gas up by 0.35%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.58%, Capital Goods down by 1.00%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.80%, FMCG down by 0.73% and Auto down by 0.66% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.25%, ICICI Bank up by 1.62%, SBI up by 1.33%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.26% and Axis Bank up by 0.96%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 2.58%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.31%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.09%, Indusind Bank down by 1.96% and Asian Paints down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over exports growth, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan has said the country’s exports are reviving and the shipments are expected to be in the ‘solid’ positive territory in this financial year (FY22). 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. He said ‘so, I am quite positive and hopeful that in 2021-22, we will be in solid positive territory. I have no doubts about that. But I do not want to predict numbers and make any targeted projections’.

Since December 2020, the country’s merchandise exports are recording positive growth. In March this year, the exports rose by 60.29 per cent to $34.45 billion. However in 2020-21, the shipments dipped by 7.26 per cent to $290.63 billion. Product categories that recorded positive growth during March include oilmeals, iron ore, carpet, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, rice, spices, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, marine products, petroleum products, coffee and tea. He said gems and jewellery is a luxury product, and its demand would also slowly pick up, and added that exports are recovering from the severe COVID-19 impact.

Wadhawan said that exporters have shown resilience and have covered a lot of the lost ground, after hit by Covid-19 pandemic. About India’s trade gap with the US and China, the secretary said that trade surplus with the US and deficit with China has improved in 2020-21. India’s exports to the US stood at $53 billion in 2019-20 and $51 billion in 2020-21. Imports from the US aggregated at $35.8 billion in 2019-20 as compared to $28 billion in 2020-21. The country’s exports to China in 2019-20 were at $16.6 billion and $21.2 billion in 2020-21. Imports from China were worth $65 billion in 2019-20 while the numbers were roughly the same for 2020-21.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14280.90, down by 15.50 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 14151.40 and 14288.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 5.15%, Tata Steel up by 4.24%, JSW Steel up by 2.16%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.15% and SBI Life Insurance up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 3.62%, Titan Co down by 2.85%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.39%, Indusind Bank down by 2.39% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.23% 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. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite fell 8.16 points or 0.14% to 5,985.08 and Shanghai Composite was down by 2.76 points or 0.08% to 3,470.17.

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