The Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in late afternoon session, but continued to trade below the neutral lines. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Indusind Bank, Power Grid and ICICI Bank. Traders remain concerned after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that the year-long pandemic left households more indebted, which has sharply jumped to 37.1 per cent of GDP in Q2 of FY21, while their savings rate plunged to a low 10.4 per cent. The household savings plunged as the pandemic has led to tens of millions losing jobs and almost all forced to take deep pay-cuts, forcing them to borrow more or dip into their savings to meet expenses. Traders failed to took support, as country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 1.739 billion to USD 582.037 billion in the week ended on March 12. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as sentiment was shaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement that it would end some emergency measures put in place last year to help the financial industry deal with the pandemic. European markets were trading lower amid fears of a third wave of COVID-19 across the bloc, and an escalating row between the UK and European Union (EU) over access to AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) vaccine.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49646.94, down by 211.30 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 49281.02 and 49878.77. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.43%, IT up by 1.31%, Realty up by 1.11%, Healthcare up by 1.05% and TECK was up by 1.05%, while Bankex down by 1.59%, Consumer Durables down by 0.89%, PSU down by 0.71%, Auto down by 0.65% and Telecom was down by 0.61% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.51%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.90%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.84%, HCL Tech up by 1.81% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.03%, Power Grid down by 2.60%, ICICI Bank down by 2.31%, HDFC Bank down by 1.76% and Axis Bank down by 1.76% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1335884 new jobs in the month of January 2021 as against revised figure of 1081398 in December 2020.
As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi.
According to the data report, 6558 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 266152 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 347771, 186471, 269096 and 259836 new payrolls, respectively in January 2021.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14694.15, down by 49.85 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 14597.85 and 14763.90. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports up by 4.51%, Sun Pharma up by 2.42%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.14%, Britannia up by 2.10% and TCS up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 4.03%, Power Grid down by 2.56%, ICICI Bank down by 2.30%, Tata Motors down by 2.01% and HDFC Bank down by 1.91% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Nikkei 225 slipped 617.90 points or 2.07% to 29,174.15, Hang Seng decreased 105.60 points or 0.36% to 28,885.34, Jakarta Composite lost 55.03 points or 0.87% to 6,301.13, KOSPI fell 4.07 points or 0.13% to 3,035.46 and Straits Times was down by 3.18 points or 0.1% to 3,131.36. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 38.78 points or 1.14% to 3,443.44 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 118.98 points or 0.74% to 16,189.22.
European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.86 points or 0.33% to 6,686.85, France’s CAC decreased 36.28 points or 0.6% to 5,961.68 and Germany’s DAX was down by 6.88 points or 0.05% to 14,614.12.