Indian equity benchmarks, soon after a muted start, slumped around a percentage point with Sensex and Nifty breaching their 60,500 and 18,000 mark amid valuation concerns and a mixed global market setup. Persistent selling by FIIs also kept traders on sidelines. However, markets staged a decent recovery thereafter to trade merely below their neutral lines as market participants opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Traders also found some solace with India Ratings & Research’s report stating that the recently-concluded normal monsoon season will provide a much-needed cushion to both India's agriculture and inflation in 2021-22. Meanwhile, the government may introduce two key financial sector bills, including the proposed law for facilitating privatisation of public sector banks as announced by the finance minister in the Budget.
On the global front, Asian markets were mixed at this point of time following last week's gains with investors keeping a worried eye on a fresh Covid outbreak in China that could drag on the already stuttering economy. Back home, ICICI Bank zoomed after the private sector lender reported a 30 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit in the July-September quarter (Q2FY22), aided by robust net interest income (NII) and other income as well as lower provisions.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60805.26, down by 16.36 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 60449.68 and 61404.99. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.66%, while Small cap index was down by 1.86%.
The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 2.17% and Metal up by 0.16%, while Realty down by 2.81%, IT down by 1.78%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 1.74%, TECK down by 1.49% and Consumer Durables down by 1.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 11.84%, Axis Bank up by 4.02%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.28%, SBI up by 0.64% and NTPC up by 0.24%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.10%, HDFC Bank down by 2.63%, HCL Tech down by 2.57%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.25% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.14% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that the real estate sector plays a multiplier effect in the development of the economy and is expected to reach a market size of $1 trillion by 2030, accounting for 18-20 per cent of India's GDP. Further, Kant said the last 18 months have been challenging for India and the economy in general, and the real estate sector was not left untouched.
However, he said ‘We see a silver lining as the vaccination rate has picked up and the infections are slowly coming down.’ He noted that the real estate sector and its stakeholders also play a critical role in supporting the 'housing for all' initiative of the government.
Besides, he said the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has already given its approval for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which will create an opportunity worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the coming years. Moreover, he stated the smart city project with a plan to build 100 cities is a prime opportunity for real estate companies, He that a slew of measures introduced by the government, including monetary and fiscal stimulus, have supported businesses and industries through these challenging times.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18088.80, down by 26.10 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 17968.50 and 18241.40. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 11.83%, Axis Bank up by 4.12%, ONGC up by 2.13%, Cipla up by 1.10% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.06%, Divi's Lab down by 2.96%, HDFC Bank down by 2.52%, HCL Tech down by 2.49% and Wipro down by 2.28% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng advanced 14.98 points or 0.06% to 26,141.91, KOSPI rose 11.73 points or 0.39% to 3,017.89, Jakarta Composite added 12.08 points or 0.18% to 6,655.82 and Shanghai Composite was up by 10.41 points or 0.29% to 3,593.01. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 lost 230.54 points or 0.80% to 28,574.31, Straits Times fell 6.13 points or 0.19% to 3,199.01 and Taiwan Weighted declined 15.64 points or 0.09% to 16,873.10.
