Indian equity benchmarks made slightly positive start on Thursday but soon lost ground and slipped below neutral lines amid weakness in global peers. Markets struggling for direction and are trading flat in early deals, with Sensex and Nifty losing around 20 points. Sentiments got hurt with ratings agency ICRA’s statement that sequential growth slackening driven by the second wave of Covid-19 in India has emerged as a concern. ICRA also cautioned that bruised sentiment, high healthcare and fuel expenses will limit discretionary purchases in the immediate term. Some cautiousness came in as India witnessed 276,261 fresh cases, with the new infection count remaining below the 300,000-mark for the fourth consecutive day. However, downside remained capped, as traders took note of report that the Indian government has ramped up the production of Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug prescribed for treating moderate-to-critical Covid patients, by 10 times. From 1 million vials per month in April, the Centre claims it will produce 10 million vials this month, as it has increased the number of plants manufacturing Remdesivir from 20 to 60. Meanwhile, the Income Tax department has issued over Rs 24,792 crore refunds to more than 15 lakh taxpayers so far this fiscal.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following the negative cues overnight from Wall Street as the accelerating pace of inflation and the bitcoin's sharp plunge weighed on the market. Traders are also cautious amid tensions between Beijing and Washington, and the rising worries about the spikes in coronavirus cases in the region. Back home, fertilizer industry stocks were in focus as the Centre increased its share of subsidy for di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) by 140 per cent from Rs 500 to Rs 1,200 per bag, thereby rolling back the steep 58 per cent hike in prices announced by companies since April. In scrip specific developments, IOC fell despite reporting better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter ended March. However, JK Tyre & Industries climbed as it reported a consolidated profit of Rs 189.12 crore in the March quarter against loss of Rs 47.2 crore in the same quarter last year.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49883.29, down by 19.35 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 49781.48 and 50099.17. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.58%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.01%, Realty up by 1.65%, Consumer Durables up by 1.40%, Healthcare up by 1.30%, Capital Goods up by 0.95%, while Metal down by 4.22%, Basic Materials down by 1.59%, Telecom down by 1.40%, Oil & Gas down by 1.06%, Auto down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Titan Company up by 1.52%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.05%, Nestle up by 0.76%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.68% and Sun Pharma up by 0.67%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.32%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.12%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.94%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.88% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.59% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das has asked state-owned banks to quickly implement measures announced by the central bank recently in the ‘right earnest’. He also urged the banks to continue focussing on steps to enhance the resilience of their balance sheets.
Das acknowledged the important role being played by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in extending various banking facilities including credit facilities to individuals and businesses while tackling the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Earlier this month, the governor had announced a slew of measures, including term liquidity facility of Rs 50,000 crore to ease access to emergency health services, to further improve lending to MSME sector, restructuring of loans, and rationalisation of compliance to KYC, in wake of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15002.95, down by 27.20 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 14960.50 and 15069.80. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.81%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.77%, Hindalco up by 1.47%, Tata Motors up by 1.43% and Power Grid up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 0.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.11%, HDFC Bank down by 0.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.07% and ICICI Bank down by 0.07% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 206.88 points or 0.72% to 28,386.93, Taiwan Weighted lost 53.50 points or 0.33% to 16,079.16, KOSPI fell 15.19 points or 0.48% to 3,157.86 and Shanghai Composite was down by 10.10 points or 0.29% to 3,500.86. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 gained 5.32 points or 0.02% to 28,049.77, Straits Times rose 12.79 points or 0.41% to 3,117.00 and Jakarta Composite surged 47.31 points or 0.82% to 5,807.89.