Markets trade flat; Sensex near 57,630, Nifty 50 holds 17,200; Bharti Airtel in focus ahead of Q3; Bajaj twins, Dr Reddy's top bulls; SBI, Power Grid, NTPC in a selloff

8 Feb 2022 , 10:10 AM

Indian markets opened on a positive note during Tuesday’s early bells, however, the benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 pared their gains and were trading on a flat note. The markets condition looks volatile for the day. In the opening bell, the indices had stopped a three-consecutive day’s losing streak driven by heavyweight Maruti Suzuki and metal stocks.

However, markets erased those gains as investors focus shifts on major corporate earnings and RBI’s 3-day monetary policy meet which begins from today. Although, consumer durables stocks limited the downside. TVS Motor stock rallies on logging better-than-expected Q3 results, while Bharti Airtel stocks are in focus ahead of its Q3 financial performance. SmallCap stocks witness massive selling pressure.

At around 10.06 am, Sensex was trading at 57,631.52 up by 10.33 points or 0.02%. The index has touched an intraday high and low of 57,925.82 and 57,481.52.

Nifty 50 traded at 17,200.70 lower by 12.90 points or 0.07%. The index has touched an intraday high and low of 17,306.45 and 17,176.20.

In terms of broader markets, on BSE, the SmallCap index shed over 190 points. Sensex Next 50 dipped nearly 100 points.

In terms of sectoral indices, on BSE, the Consumer Durables stock outperformed with gains of nearly 210 points. The Bankex and IT index top bear tumbling by 145 points and 105 points.

Top bulls on BSE – Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paint, Bharti Airtel and Titan.

Top bears on BSE were – Power Grid, SBI, NTPC, TCS and IndusInd Bank.

Among major Q3 earnings, today are – Bharti Airtel, IRCTC, Bata India, Jindal Steel & Power, AstraZeneca Pharma, Escorts, Glenmark Life Sciences, Godrej Consumer Products, Granules India,  NMDC and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra).

RBI will carry out a three-day meeting to discuss various factors before announcing the monetary policy outcome on February 10. This would be the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) during the financial year 2021-22.

In this upcoming policy, once again ‘status quo’ in terms of policy repo rate and stance is expected. RBI’s repo rate is seen to be kept unchanged at 4% with an accommodative stance. However, expectations are that RBI may likely decide to hike the reverse repo rate by 10-40 basis points. The reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 3.35% currently.

On the global front, Asian markets traded mixed with Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite nosediving by 1.5% and 1%. Shares rose in Japan’s Nikkei 225 where steel stocks led the gainers while broader markets outperformed. The performance comes with bonds taking a jump with investors calibrating risks from the global wave of monetary tightening. Most Asian indices will face a catch up to the global cues where monetary adjustment from ultra-low rates dawns on most Central banks. Value overgrowth seems to be the trend globally as expensive growth stocks see profit booking.

Overnight, on Wall Street, US markets see another day of the volatile day as Dow Jones closes flat after being up over 250 points till last hour bout of profit booking. Nasdaq closes lower by 40 points even as Russell 2000 index closes with gains for 2nd straight day. Money shifting into cyclical as growth stocks see profit booking, with yields remaining unchanged @ 1.91%.