IGI Logo

Markets remain subdued in noon trade

Indian bourses continued their weak trade in afternoon session with Sensex and Nifty trading down by 310 and 83 points respectively. Stocks from auto, IT and Oil & consumer discretionary counters were trading lower, while metal, healthcare and power counters were supporting the markets. Sentiments were dampened as firmer prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal drove India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) to 7.39% (provisional) for the month of March 2021 over March 2020. Traders took note of report of Indian industry bodies stating that the imposition of stricter lockdown in Maharashtra will help slow the transmission of coronavirus but it will have a deep impact on the state's economy. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following mixed cues from Wall Street where a sharp sell-off in the largest bitcoin exchange Coinbase hit tech shares.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48233.15, down by 310.91 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 48010.55 and 48686.17. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.69%, while Small cap index was down by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.74%, Healthcare up by 0.57%, Power up by 0.28%, Utilities up by 0.17% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.16%, while Auto down by 2.00%, IT down by 1.35%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.29%, TECK down by 1.18% and Realty was down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.69%, TCS up by 1.78%, ICICI Bank up by 1.27%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.23% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.86%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.00%, Indusind Bank down by 2.88%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, firmer prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal drove India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) to 7.39% (provisional) for the month of March 2021 over March 2020. However, month-on-month (March 2021 over February 2021) rate of inflation stood at 1.57%.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, increased by (0.55%) to 146.2 (provisional) in March 2021 from 145.4 (provisional) for the month of February 2021. Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas, Non-food Articles and Minerals increased in March 2021 as compared to February 2021, while prices of Food Articles declined in March 2021 as compared to February 2021.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, rose (5.28%) to 109.7 (provisional) in March 2021 from 104.2 (provisional) for the month of February 2021. Prices of Mineral Oils increased in March 2021 as compared to February 2021, while prices of Coal declined in March 2021 as compared to February 2021. But, prices of electricity remain unchanged.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, jumped (1.27%) to 127.3 (provisional) in March 2021 from 125.7(provisional) for the month of February 2021. Meanwhile, for the month of January 2021, the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 126.5 and 2.51% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14420.95, down by 83.85 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 14353.20 and 14566.80. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.77%, ONGC up by 2.60%, Cipla up by 2.49%, Divis Lab up by 2.26% and TCS was up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 4.29%, Eicher Motors down by 4.20%, Infosys down by 3.79%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.07% and Indusind Bank was down by 2.66% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Straits Times advanced 1.83 points or 0.06% to 3,181.22, Nikkei 225 surged 21.70 points or 0.07% to 29,642.69, KOSPI rose 11.95 points or 0.38% to 3,194.33, Taiwan Weighted was up by 210.76 points or 1.25% to 17,076.73

On the other side, Hang Seng decreased 181.49 points or 0.63% to 28,719.34, Shanghai Composite declined 20.23 points or 0.59% to 3,396.49 and Jakarta Composite was down by 6.66 points or 0.11% to 6,043.62.

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