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Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in afternoon session as Asian peers retreated on worries that accelerating U.S. inflation could lead to interest rate hikes sooner than expected. Sentiments were also fragile as World Health Organziation states that the coronavirus variant first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern, with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily. The WHO has said the predominant lineage of B.1.617 was first identified in India in December, although an earlier version was spotted in October 2020. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower after a selloff on Wall Street and China's ongoing anti-monopoly crackdown weighed on the country's tech majors.

Back home, weak broader indices along with sell off at IT, TECK and Bankex counters dragged the markets lower. In scrip specific developments, HFCL surged on reporting many fold jump in Q4 consolidated net profit and Meera Industries gained on securing domestic order from SRF. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49271.01, down by 231.40 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 48988.18 and 49290.78. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.64%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.94%, Utilities up by 1.72%, PSU up by 1.64%, Energy up by 1.00% and Power was up by 0.89%, while IT down by 0.72%, TECK down by 0.60%, Bankex down by 0.43%, Healthcare down by 0.12% and FMCG was down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Ultratech Cement up by 3.05%, NTPC up by 1.81%, Sun Pharma up by 0.97%, SBI up by 0.90% and Indusind Bank was up by 0.71%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.45%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.07%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.46%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.14% and Bajaj Finance down was by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that India is seeing an increasing digitization of financial services, with consumers shifting from cash to cards, wallets, apps, and UPI. Releasing a report -- Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat -- prepared jointly by Niti Aayog and Mastercard, Kumar said this report looks at some key sectors and areas that need digital disruptions to bring financial services to everyone.

He said ‘Technology has been transformational, providing greater and easier access to financial services. India is seeing an increasing digitization of financial services, with consumers shifting from cash to cards, wallets, apps, and UPI’. The report recommended that there is a need to strengthen the payment infrastructure to promote a level-playing field for NBFCs and banks. It also pitched for digitizing registration and compliance processes and diversifying credit sources to enable growth opportunities for MSMEs.

According to the report, there is a need to build information sharing systems, including a 'fraud repository', and ensuring that online digital commerce platforms carry warnings to alert consumers to the risk of frauds. It also pitched for enabling agricultural NBFCs to access low-cost capital and deploy a 'phygital' (physical + digital) model for achieving better long-term digital outcomes. it said ‘Digitizing land records will also provide a major boost to the sector’, and added that to make city transit seamlessly accessible to all with minimal crowding and queues, there is need to leverage existing smartphones and contactless cards, and aim for an inclusive, interoperable, and fully open system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14890.80, down by 51.55 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 14771.40 and 14893.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corp up by 5.09%, Coal India up by 4.96%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.19%, Tata Consumer Products up by 2.37% and BPCL was up by 2.02%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.42%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.97%, Hindalco down by 1.59%, Wipro down by 1.55% and Divis Lab was down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Taiwan Weighted dropped 652.48 points or 3.79% to 16,583.13, Straits Times trembled 23.10 points or 0.73% to 3,159.31, Hang Seng decreased 570.40 points or 1.99% to 28,025.26, Nikkei 225 slipped 909.75 points or 3.08% to 28,608.59, KOSPI fell 39.87 points or 1.23% to 3,209.43 and Jakarta Composite was down by 59.89 points or 1% to 5,915.90.

On the flip side; Shanghai Composite was up by 8.14 points or 0.24% to 3,436.13.

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