IGI Logo

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon session after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo and left repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, while the stance remained accommodative. Some anxiety also came as Reserve Bank lowered the country's growth projection for the current financial year to 9.5 percent from 10.5 percent estimated earlier, amid uncertainties created by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, RBI is going to initiate a secondary market government securities acquisition programme or G-SAP 2.0 worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore in the second quarter of this fiscal to enable an orderly evolution of the yield curve. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly lower as traders were awaiting the U.S. government’s latest monthly jobs report, expected later Friday. Unemployment data announced Thursday was encouraging.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52135.74, down by 96.69 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 52055.40 and 52389.02. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.34%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.50%, Capital Goods up by 0.84%, Industrials up by 0.70%, PSU up by 0.62% and Utilities was up by 0.61%, while Bankex down by 0.74%, Consumer Durables down by 0.62%, Metal down by 0.59%, FMCG down by 0.36% and Basic Materials was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.57%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.65%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.22%, HDFC up by 1.17% and Tech Mahindra was up by 0.70%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.67%, ICICI Bank down by 1.02%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01%, SBI down by 0.90% and Titan Company was down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, RBI has kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 4.25 per cent.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of RBI also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4 per cent within a band of +/- 2 per cent, while supporting growth.

On the economic growth front, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth is now projected at 9.5 percent in 2021-22, consisting of 18.5 percent in Q1; 7.9 percent in Q2; 7.2 percent in Q3; and 6.6 per cent in Q4:2021-22. On the inflation front, CPI inflation is projected at 5.1 percent during 2021-22: 5.2 per cent in Q1; 5.4 percent in Q2; 4.7 per cent in Q3; and 5.3 percent in Q4:2021- 22; with risks broadly balanced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15671.25, down by 19.10 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 15642.55 and 15733.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.61%, Coal India up by 2.42%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 2.00%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.60% and Grasim Industries was up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.70%, Hindalco down by 1.33%, Tata Steel down by 1.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.04% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite lost 35.11 points or 0.58% to 6,056.40, Taiwan Weighted dropped 98.75 points or 0.57% to 17,147.41, KOSPI fell 7.35 points or 0.23% to 3,240.08, Nikkei 225 slipped 116.59 points or 0.4% to 28,941.52, Straits Times trembled 9.40 points or 0.3% to 3,155.60 and Hang Seng was down by 125.18 points or 0.43% to 28,840.85.

On the flip side; Shanghai Composite was up by 0.33 points or 0.01% to 3,584.54.

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