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Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in noon session, but continue to trade below the neutral lines with Sensex and Nifty trading below 54600 and 16350 marks, respectively. Sentiments were fragile as Indian rupee weakens to all-time low and trading at 77.41 per dollar, mainly because of the strength of the US currency in the global market and unabated foreign fund outflows. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,517.08 crore, exchange data showed. However, losses got trimmed with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the recent interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank was not surprising for her but the timing was, asserting that the rising cost of funds will not impact the government's planned infrastructure investments. On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower amid tightening lockdown in Shanghai stoked concerns about global economic growth and possible recession.

Closer home, stocks from telecom and technology counters were the sector which showcased resilience, while stocks from utilities, power and energy counters emerged as the laggards of the sector. The overall market breadth on BSE remained in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 2351:999, while 135 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 54561.44, down by 274.14 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 53918.02 and 54562.09. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.40%, while Small cap index was down by 1.29%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.71%, TECK up by 0.48% and IT was up by 0.14%, while Utilities down by 1.73%, Power down by 1.67%, Energy down by 1.55%, Metal down by 1.45% and Consumer Discretionary was down by 1.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.31%, HCL Tech up by 2.25%, Power Grid up by 1.87%, Infosys up by 1.72% and Bajaj Finance was up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 3.02%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.23%, Indusind Bank down by 2.11%, Nestle down by 1.97% and Tata Steel was down by 1.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the unemployment rate for persons of 15 years and above in urban areas slipped to 8.7 per cent in October-December 2021 from 10.3 per cent in the year-ago quarter. It said joblessness was high in October-December in 2020 mainly due to the staggering impact of the lockdown restrictions in the country, which were imposed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

According to the survey, the unemployment rate for persons of age 15 years and above in July-September 2021 was 9.8 per cent in urban areas. It also showed that the unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban areas also declined to 10.5 per cent in October-December 2021 from 13.1 per cent a year ago. It was 11.6 per cent in July-September 2021. Among males, the unemployment rate in urban areas also dipped to 8.3 per cent in October-December 2021 compared to 9.5 per cent a year ago. It was 9.3 per cent in July-September 2021.

It further stated that labour force participation rate in CWS (current weekly status) in urban areas for persons 15 years of age and above remained unchanged at 47.3 per cent in the October-December quarter of 2021, compared to the same period a year ago. It was 46.9 per cent in July-September 2021. Labour force refers to the part of the population which supplies or offers to supply labour for pursuing economic activities for the production of goods and services and therefore, includes both employed and unemployed persons.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16323.05, down by 88.20 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 16142.10 and 16331.30. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.33%, HCL Tech up by 2.13%, Infosys up by 1.76%, Power Grid Corp up by 1.68% and Bajaj Finance was up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 3.10%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.23%, Nestle down by 2.03%, Indusind Bank down by 1.94% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 1.93% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Taiwan Weighted dropped 359.28 points or 2.19% to 16,048.92, Shanghai Composite declined 10.44 points or 0.35% to 2,991.12, Straits Times trembled 9.77 points or 0.3% to 3,282.12, KOSPI fell 33.23 points or 1.26% to 2,611.28, Jakarta Composite lost 280.60 points or 3.88% to 6,948.31 and Nikkei 225 was down by 684.22 points or 2.53% to 26,319.34.

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