Selling pressure continues in Indian markets

A selling pressure continued in Indian equity markets during early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading lower, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. Traders booked profits in TECK and Telecom stocks during trading session, while Bharti Airtel witnessed a sharp fall on the BSE among major industry players. Traders overlooked a private report stating that the stock market reflects India's ascendance as an economic superpower with premium valuations, but challenges remain for inclusive growth.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after Singapore's retail sales expanded at a slower pace in March. The preliminary data from the Department of Statistics showed that retail sales rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in March, much slower than the 8.6 percent gain in February. However, this was the third successive monthly rise. Sales excluding motor vehicles grew 2.0 percent from last year, which was 9.5 percent in February.

Back home, construction industry stocks were in watch, as credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has maintained a neutral outlook on the construction sector for FY25, while maintaining a deteriorating sub-sector outlook for roads engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74135.77, down by 475.34 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 73831.42 and 75095.18. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.05%, while Small cap index was down by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.90%, Power up by 0.43%, PSU up by 0.24%, Healthcare up by 0.21% and Utilities up by 0.05%, while TECK down by 1.11%, Telecom down by 0.97%, Realty down by 0.88%, IT down by 0.80% and Consumer Discretionary down by 0.56% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.24%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.60%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.57%, ICICI Bank up by 0.50% and Tata Steel up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.35%, Reliance Industries down by 1.82%, Nestle down by 1.65%, Asian Paints down by 1.58% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest report has said that India is one of the lowest among the Asia Pacific nations when it comes to health insurance for older people and needs to expand universal health coverage to meet the needs of rapidly ageing population and sustain growth momentum. It said while the South Korea and Thailand have achieved universal health coverage, others lag behind with India having the lowest health insurance coverage among older people at 21 per cent.

However, the report said schemes like Ayushman Bharat that provides cashless healthcare to bottom quartile of population has improved health coverage since its launch. Expanding it further will improve the condition and make people aged over 60 years more productive for the economy. It added that silver dividend can be higher for such countries who gainfully employ them. Besides achieving universal health coverage, it is also critical to extend essential services and interventions that optimize older people's physical and functional capacity. In Bangladesh, Indonesia and India, more than half of those without access to healthcare are in the bottom two wealth quintiles. 

According to the report, economic growth impact due to ageing population during 2031-40 would be lower in the case of India as it would still have high young population. It said the number of people aged 60 and older in developing Asia and the Pacific is set to nearly double by 2050 to 1.2 billion -- or about a quarter of the total population -- significantly increasing the need for pension and welfare programmes as well as healthcare services. It noted that governments need to prepare now if they're going to be able to help hundreds of millions of people in the region age well. Policies should support lifetime investment in health, education, skills, and financial preparedness for retirement. Family and social ties are also important to foster healthy and productive populations of older people and maximize their contribution to society.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22541.85, down by 106.35 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 22454.80 and 22794.70. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.78%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.41%, Grasim Industries up by 1.65%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.62% and ONGC up by 1.57%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.20%, Reliance Industries down by 1.92%, Nestle down by 1.74%, Asian Paints down by 1.59% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng advanced 304.73 points or 1.67% to 18,511.86, Taiwan Weighted added 107.88 points or 0.53% to 20,330.32, Jakarta Composite gained 18.76 points or 0.26% to 7,136.19 and Straits Times rose 8 points or 0.24% to 3,304.89, while KOSPI dropped 7.02 points or 0.26% to 2,676.63.