:::LALKAR GROUP::::

Equity indices were trading near the day's low in mid afternoon trade. The Nifty held above 14,400 mark. Auto and IT shares bucked weak market trend while banks and financial stocks tumbled.

At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 547.72 points or 1.1% at 49,077.72. The Nifty 50 index dropped 168.45 points or 1.15% at 14,421.75.

Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.03%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 852 shares rose and 2,043 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,614.66 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,039.48 crore in the Indian equity market on 21 January 2021, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,74,95,558 with 20,89,460 deaths. India reported 1,88,688 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,53,032 deaths while 1,02,83,708 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Index slipped 2.19% to 15,205.65, falling for second trading session. The index lost 2.9% in two days.

Axis Bank (down 5%), Shriram Transport Finance (down 4%), M&M Finance (down 3.67%), Piramal Enterprises (down 3.62%), ICICI Bank (down 3.49%), SBI (down 2.9%) and HDFC (down 1.9%) declined.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee depreciated to 73.0775 compared with its previous closing of 72.9950.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.964% from its previous closing of 5.956%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement fell 0.25% to Rs 49,326.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.16% to 90.267.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement fell 82 cents to $55.28 a barrel. The contract rose 0.04% to settle at $56.10 in the previous trading session.