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Markets turn negative after cautious start
Apr-15-2021

Indian equity benchmarks made cautious start on Thursday amid mixed global cues. Soon, markets slipped into red territory and are trading lower with cut of around one third of a percent each, as Maharashtra announced lockdown-like stricter restrictions amid a continued spike in COVID cases. Selling in IT, Auto and TECK stocks dented the sentiments. Rising coronavirus cases weighted down on the markets. Breaking all records, India registered its biggest-ever single day spike with 199,569 fresh cases. With this, India's Covid tally has shot up to 14,070,890 cases. There was some cautiousness as Moody’s said that the re-imposition of virus management measures following a surge in Covid infections will dent economic activity and could hurt market and consumer sentiment, and it warned of a threat to recovery. However, it said targeted containment measures, versus last year’s complete lockdown, and rapid vaccination will soften the hit on the economy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street. The markets received support from crude oil prices offset by weakness in financial and technology stocks. Traders continue to be worried amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the region and restrictions in economic activity in several markets. Back home, real estate sector stocks were in focus with CARE Ratings’ report that the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country and fears of second wave might hamper the recovery in the real estate sector witnessed in the last six months. In scrip specific development, Bandhan Bank edged up after reporting a healthy growth in business for the March quarter of FY21. However, Infosys tumbled after its quarterly profit missed estimates.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 48382.61, down by 161.45 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 48291.73 and 48686.17. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.49%, Healthcare up by 0.95%, Oil & Gas up by 0.65%, Energy up by 0.56%, Power up by 0.51%, while IT down by 1.47%, Auto down by 1.47%, TECK down by 1.21%, Realty down by 1.08%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.92% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.94%, Sun Pharma up by 1.24%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.02%, TCS up by 0.85% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.76%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.82%, Indusind Bank down by 2.46%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.87% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, rating agency Moody’s in its latest report ‘Second wave of coronavirus infections poses credit-negative threat to economic recovery’ has said the reimposition of virus management measures following a surge in Covid infections will dent economic activity and could hurt market and consumer sentiment, warning of a threat to recovery. However, it said targeted containment measures, versus last year’s complete lockdown, and rapid vaccination will soften the hit on the economy.

The rating agency sees vaccination as the key tool to manage the second wave, but warned that shortages could slow inoculation drive. It retained its forecast of double-digit growth in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) for FY22. In February, Moody’s had revised India’s FY22 growth outlook to 13.7% from 10.8% estimated earlier while maintaining sovereign credit rating at Baa3 (negative), the lowest investment grade rating.

It mentioned the announced countermeasures to combat the second wave - some of which are due to remain in place at least until the end of April - risk weakening the economic recovery. India has been reporting a record increase in Covid-19 infections with the daily case count nearing twice the highs reached in September last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 14459.25, down by 45.55 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 14441.65 and 14566.80. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.71%, Hindalco up by 2.58%, ONGC up by 2.50%, Wipro up by 2.02% and Sun Pharma up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.88%, Eicher Motors down by 3.39%, Grasim Industries down by 3.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.39% and Indusind Bank down by 2.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 rose 27.60 points or 0.09% to 29,648.59, Straits Times added 4.18 points or 0.13% to 3,183.57, Taiwan Weighted surged 108.14 points or 0.64% to 16,974.11, and KOSPI gained 10.52 points or 0.33% to 3,192.90. However, Hang Seng declined 273.32 points or 0.95% to 28,627.51, Jakarta Composite fell 4.66 points or 0.08% to 6,045.62 and Shanghai Composite was down by 40.42 points or 1.18% to 3,376.30.

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