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Key indices keep head above water in afternoon deals
Apr-22-2021

Local equity benchmarks managed to keep their head above water in afternoon deals with both Sensex and Nifty were trading above 47,700 and 14,300 marks, respectively. Some solace 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. However, upside remain capped as traders were worried on fears that virus led restrictions will now extend beyond the bigger cities, to smaller towns and states as cases continue to rise. The localised lockdowns and severe restrictions on movements are also going to take toll on the expected GDP growth for FY22. Also, Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market declined to Rs 89,100 crore at March-end, after hitting 33 months high level in the preceding month.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed amid worries the economy may not rebound as strongly as expected from its pandemic-driven slump. Back home; among blue chip stocks, ICICI Bank was top gainer trading up by 2.24%, while Titan Company was top loser down by 3.01%.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 47764.10, up by 58.30 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 47204.50 and 47785.63. There were 15 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.89%, Healthcare up by 1.17%, Bankex up by 1.00%, Basic Materials up by 0.68% and PSU was up by 0.63%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.45%, FMCG down by 0.74%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.65%, Capital Goods down by 0.65% and Auto was down by 0.48% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.24%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.90%, SBI up by 1.49%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.31% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.01%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.43%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.15%, Asian Paints down by 1.77% and Ultratech Cement was down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid newer spate of lockdowns and restrictions get imposed in pockets to arrest the rising COVID-19 cases, 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.

The agency said ‘For Q1 FY2022 (April-June 2021), we had earlier expected a GDP expansion of 27.5 per cent, boosted by the low base. It said ‘With the unprecedented surge in cases and evolving restrictions, the pace of GDP growth in the ongoing quarter may be tempered to 20-25 per cent’. It also said the recent surge in COVID-19 cases has resulted in a dip in consumer confidence and reignited uncertainty regarding the near-term outlook. In sequential terms, the momentum eased for domestic airlines’ passenger traffic in March 2021.

The report added that there are indications of a similar slackening in April 2021 in vehicle registrations, electricity demand and generation of GST e-way bills, reflecting the impact of the rise in infections and growing restrictions. In March, the economic activity recorded a broad-based and sharp improvement in the pace of y-o-y growth, relative to the previous month. It reflected the low base related to the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the early restrictions and the subsequent nationwide lockdown in March 2020. However, this offers limited solace in light of the recent rise in coronavirus infections in India, and the proliferation of restrictions that is currently underway.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14322.65, up by 26.25 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 14151.40 and 14330.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 4.23%, Tata Steel up by 3.87%, JSW Steel up by 2.38%, BPCL up by 2.25% and ICICI Bank was up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 3.40%, Titan Company down by 2.81%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.72%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.35% and Asian Paints was down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Straits Times advanced 26.68 points or 0.85% to 3,181.74, Nikkei 225 surged 679.62 points or 2.38% to 29,188.17, KOSPI rose 8.27 points or 0.26% to 3,179.93 and Hang Seng was up by 123.63 points or 0.43% to 28,745.55.

On the other side; Shanghai Composite declined 16.50 points or 0.48% to 3,456.43, Jakarta Composite lost 9.46 points or 0.16% to 5,983.78 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 105.14 points or 0.61% to 17,096.97.
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