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Mirroring other Asian markets, Indian bourses continued to trade in deep red in the afternoon session amid fears of a new Covid variant that scientists warn could be more infectious than Delta and even be more resistant to vaccines, dealing a blow to the global recovery. New variant (B.1.1529) has been detected in South Africa and scientists said that it ‘could be of real concern’. Sentiments were also impacted as ICRA said that the Reserve Bank of India's revision of bad loan recognition and upgradation norms could bring a sharp spike in the non-performing assets of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in the country. On the sectroal front, realty sector was the worst performer down by around 5% as new virus variant added to concerns about growth and interest rates going forward.

On the global front, all Asian markets were trading lower after some European countries tightened curbs on travel and business following a surge in coronavirus infections and South Africa reported a new variant. Back home, weak broader indices along with heavy sell off at realty, metal and auto counters, dragged the markets lower. The market breadth was negative with 1095 shares trading higher against 2101 stocks in the red, while 133 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57474.84, down by 1320.25 points or 2.25% after trading in a range of 57307.08 and 58254.79. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index tumbled 2.18%, while Small cap index was down by 1.35%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare was up by 1.85%, while Realty down by 4.92%, Metal down by 4.00%, Auto down by 3.24%, Consumer Durables down by 2.96% and PSU was down by 2.94% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 4.11%, Nestle up by 0.84% and TCS was up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 4.23%, Maruti Suzuki down by 4.18%, Titan Company down by 4.10%, HDFC down by 3.97% and Bajaj Finance was down by 3.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has brought about change in the attitude of both lenders and borrowers, besides promoting ease of doing business. He noted that IBC is a game changing reform compared to the past, when resolution would take probably decades. He said ‘we have come to a situation where we can reasonably expect resolution to happen within a stipulated timeline with that occasional delay. But resolution is happening. That is a reality’.

The minister exuded confidence that going forward, there will be significant positive action in terms of what is good for the credibility of India and its financial architecture. Any borrower who does not pay back his dues will be called to task. He also called upon the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) members to follow five guiding principles in work -- integrity, objectivity, professional competence, confidentiality, and transparency. He said ‘And if we follow these five principles, that would be truly the kind of professional behaviour that is expected of professionals assembled in this room’.

Goyal further said harnessing technology is important to speed up resolution of bad loans and urged IIIPI to look at capacity building and upskilling of professionals. To shield businesses from distress in the COVID-19 period, he said the government took the proactive measure to suspend insolvency proceedings arising from defaults during March 2020 to March 2021. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was enacted five years ago.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17124.40, down by 411.85 points or 2.35% after trading in a range of 17088.20 and 17355.40. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 7.63%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 4.15%, Divi's Lab up by 3.03%, Nestle up by 0.83% and Britannia Inds was up by 0.27%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 5.58%, Hindalco down by 5.12%, Tata Motors down by 4.99%, BPCL down by 4.59% and Adani Ports was down by 4.46% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng decreased 568.36 points or 2.3% to 24,171.80, Jakarta Composite lost 96.26 points or 1.44% to 6,603.09, Nikkei 225 slipped 747.66 points or 2.53% to 28,751.62, Taiwan Weighted dropped 284.80 points or 1.61% to 17,369.39, Shanghai Composite declined 19.92 points or 0.56% to 3,564.26, Straits Times trembled 52.24 points or 1.62% to 3,169.28 and KOSPI was down by 42.45 points or 1.42% to 2,937.82.

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