IGI Logo

Indian bourses extended their losses in afternoon session with Sensex and Nifty trading down by 370 and 91 points respectively. Sentiments were dented as there is a major dampener in the form of fast-rising COVID-19 cases, especially in some economically significant cities like Maharashtra. Restricted economic activity in these regions may impact the optimistic growth projections for FY22. Traders seem to have overlooked RBI’s data that foreign portfolio investors have pumped in a record $36 billion into equities so far this fiscal up to March 10, which is the highest since FY13. On the other hand, net foreign direct investment inflows jumped to $44 billion, till end January, up from $ 36.3 billion a year ago, driven by the massive inflows in November and December, with the last month of the year getting a record $ 6.3 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower 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. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Nilkamal gained as promoters increase stake via open market and IDBI surged on depositing Rs 25 lakh towards Recovery Expense Fund.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 49488.21, down by 370.03 points or 0.74% after trading in a range of 49427.29 and 49878.77. 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 0.68%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.27%, Healthcare up by 0.97%, Power up by 0.78%, Industrials up by 0.76% and Basic Materials was up by 0.48%, while Bankex down by 1.15%, Energy down by 1.14%, Consumer Durables down by 0.92%, Telecom down by 0.66% and PSU was down by 0.48% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.97%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.44%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.14%, NTPC up by 1.06% and HCL Tech up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.99%, Power Grid down by 2.39%, Reliance Industries down by 1.91%, HDFC Bank down by 1.70% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Former Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said that India needs to return to a very liberal trade regime as it can push growth into double-digit range. He noted that with a low corporate profit tax rate, labour law reforms, GST, and bankruptcy law, a massive privatization programme on the anvil, and measures to de-stress the financial sector under way, the country is poised to take on to global markets in a major way.

Panagariya has stated that a more liberal trade regime carries the promise of pushing this growth rate into double-digit range. He said one avenue for liberalising trade is by lowering tariffs against all trading partners, which the country successfully deployed from 1991-92 to 2007-08. He also said the second approach can be by entering into free trade agreements with major trading partners. He said, at present, 42.5 percent of the country's workforce is employed in agriculture, and for rapid transformation, nearly half of this workforce must move to industry and services in the next ten to fifteen years.  He added that this in turn requires the creation of a large number of jobs in industry and services at the lower-end of the skill spectrum that pay attractive wages.

According to him, the only way to accomplish this is by creating an environment in which successful export-oriented firms can emerge and flourish in labour-intensive sectors such as apparel, footwear, furniture, toys, kitchenware and stationery among others. He said success in export markets requires first and foremost an open trade regime and added that rather than raising tariffs, the country must lower them.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14652.65, down by 91.35 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 14641.55 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 3.57%, Cipla up by 2.03%, Sun Pharma up by 2.03%, Divis Lab up by 1.95% and Britannia Industries was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.20%, Power Grid down by 2.32%, Reliance Industries down by 1.97%, HDFC Bank down by 1.86% and Tata Motors was down by 1.75% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 6.03 points or 0.02% to 28,984.91, Jakarta Composite lost 42.70 points or 0.67% to 6,313.46, KOSPI fell 1.12 points or 0.04% to 3,038.41, Nikkei 225 slipped 617.90 points or 2.07% to 29,174.15 and Straits Times was down by 2.72 points or 0.09% to 3,131.82.

On the flip side; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 118.98 points or 0.74% to 16,189.22 and Shanghai Composite was up by 30.73 points or 0.90% to 3,435.39.

Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer