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Indian markets ended a volatile session on Tuesday sharply lower amid across-the-board selling. Today, the markets are likely to make weak start amid lackluster trade in global markets. High oil prices and sustained FII outflows are also seen to be weighing on investors’ sentiments. Traders will be concerned with a private report that The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to peak in India on January 23 when the country will record nearly 7.2 lakh cases per day. There will be some cautiousness as the SBI Business Activity Index declined to 101 as on January 17 from 109 in the week ended January 10. The latest reading, even as the country is in the midst of the third wave of the pandemic, is the lowest since November 15. However, some support may come later in the day with a private report stating that private equity and venture capital funds invested $77 billion in Indian companies in 2021, a jump of 62 per cent over the previous year. It added going by a number of deals, there was a 37 per cent growth to 1,266 transactions. Housing finance companies stocks will be in focus as Crisil Ratings said the third wave of Covid-19 could shave up to 200 basis points (bps) off from the growth in assets of housing finance companies (HFCs) in the current and next financial year (FY23). Sans the risk from the third wave, under base case, HFCs were to deliver a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9-11 per cent in FY22 and FY23. There will be some reaction in fashion retail industry stocks as ICRA said renewed restrictions on operating hours of malls, non-essential stores and curtailment of mobility amid the third Covid wave is expected to shave-off 8 per cent of fashion retailer's revenues in FY22. Meanwhile, AGS Transact Technologies Rs 680 crore IPO will open for subscription today. The public issue will be the first to open in 2022. Ahead of the IPO AGS Transact Technologies has raised Rs 204 crore from 17 anchor investors at the upper price band of Rs 175 per equity share. Investors awaited more Q3 numbers from India Inc for cues

The US markets fell sharply on Tuesday as yields continued its northbound journey. Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Wednesday as rising US Treasury yields continued to fuel a global sell-off.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks failed to hold intra-day recovery and closed at day's low on Tuesday tracking deep losses in basic materials, realty and telecom stocks amid widespread selling pressure in global markets. Key gauges made flat-to-positive start, as traders took some support with RBI article stating that India’s overall economic activity remains strong, driven by an upbeat consumer confidence and uptick in bank credit, and expectations that Omicron may turn out to be a flash flood rather than a wave have further brightened the prospects. Some support also came with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country is on track to achieve the $650 billion export target set for goods and services in the ongoing fiscal year (FY22). However, markets soon turned negative as traders got anxious with a private survey report stating that in the wake of COVID-19 and new digital operations, banking and financial institutions have been struggling to deal with an increasing number of fraud incidents and the trend is expected to continue. Key indices extended fall in late afternoon deals, as the sentiments remained downbeat with Crisil Ratings’ report stated that securitisation volume growth slowed to around 8 percent on year to Rs 29,000 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2021 (Q3FY22), on higher risk aversion amid the third wave of COVID-19. Traders were also cautious with private report stated that the fast-spreading third wave of COVID-19 has undone the gains achieved due to resumption of business since the end of the lethal second wave last year. Meanwhile, tightening rules for initial public offering (IPO), Sebi has put a cap on the usage of the issue proceeds for unidentified future acquisitions and restricted the number of shares that can be offered by significant shareholders. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 554.05 points or 0.90% to 60,754.86 and the CNX Nifty was down by 195.05 points or 1.07% to 18,113.05. 

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