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Sell-off in Indian Stock Markets, Economic Survey 2021, and Buzzing Stocks Today
Mon, 1 Feb Pre-Open

Extending losses to the sixth straight session, Indian share markets witnessed selling pressure and ended deep in the red on Friday.

At the closing bell on Friday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 588 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 182 points.

IndusInd Bank and Sun Pharmaceuticals were among the top gainers.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, on the other hand, was among the top losers.

The BSE Mid cap index and the BSE Small cap index ended lower by 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, telecom stocks, IT stocks and auto stocks were among the hardest hit.

Gold prices were trading up by 0.8% at Rs 49,016 per 10 grams at the time of closing stock market hours on Friday.

To know more about gold, you can check out our detailed article on investing in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

Speaking of stock markets, in her latest video, Richa Agarwal talks about how to not miss the 10 best days for your portfolio returns.

Tune in to the video to find out more:

Top 5 Factors Why Indian Stock Markets Plunged on Friday

Pre-Budget Nervousness: Traders were seen lightening their positions on Friday ahead of Union Budget.

Weak Global Cues: European stock markets sank at the open on Friday and Asian stock markets ended deep in the red.

The Hang Seng was down 0.9% and the Shanghai Composite stood lower by 0.6%. The Nikkei ended down by 1.8%.

Under pressure from global stock markets, benchmark indices also traded in the red. The BSE Sensex gave up the 46,500-level while the Nifty slipped below 13,650.

FIIs Turn Bearish: The fourth day of consecutive selling by FIIs worth Rs 37.1 billion on Thursday turned the market mood bearish.

Auto, IT, and Telecom Stocks Bleed: Losses were also widened after a sell-off in auto, IT, and telecom sectors which fell more than 2.6% each on Friday.

Profit Booking: Apart from the above, losses were also seen as share market succumbed to profit-booking.

Our editors have been pointing out for many weeks now about the risky nature of the market as Covid-19 remains an overhang and the economic outlook remains uncertain. They have been warning you about not only the market but also specific stocks and sectors.

Rahul Shah wrote about why the stock of Tata Motors could be running out of steam.

Brijesh Bhatia spoke about why it's a good time to sell pharma stocks.

Tanushree, in her editorial, wrote about unhealthy stocks - Burger King, Westlife Development, Jubilant Foodworks, and the like.

We will keep you updated on how these factors develop in the coming days and what effect they have on Indian stock markets. Stay tuned!

Top Stocks in Focus Today

Marico share price will be in focus today as the company has reported a 13% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 3.1 billion for the quarter ended December 2020.

Revenue from operations went up by 16.3% to Rs 21.2 billion during the quarter under review as compared to Rs 18.2 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Marico said in Q3FY21, revenue from operations grew on the back of a strong domestic volume growth of 15% and a constant currency growth of 8% in the international business.

The FMCG major is aiming to fetch revenue of Rs 1 billion from its Saffola brand of packaged honey by next year, benefitting from the recent claims around the purity of its honey, and plans to reinforce this with greater efforts to expand its packaged and health foods offerings.

To know more, you can read Marico's latest result analysis on our website.

Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) will be in focus today as the stock of the company made a lacklustre debut on Friday at Rs 25 per share, a discount of 3.9% from the upper band of the issue price of Rs 26 apiece. Minutes after listing the stock price moved lower to Rs 24.4 per share.

IRFC, a non-bank finance company (NBFC) owned by the Ministry of Railways is the first IPO for 2021. On listing, the company had a market capitalization of Rs 330 billion. The stock has failed to mirror the bumped listing of IRCTC, another Ministry of Railway firm.

Sun Pharmaceutical will also be among the top buzzing stocks today.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries reported a two-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 18.5 billion for the December quarter compared with Rs 9.1 billion in the same quarter last year. The numbers were aided by other income.

Other income for the quarter surged to Rs 3.1 billion compared with Rs 1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue for the quarter rose 9.2% YoY to Rs 87.8 billion from Rs 80.3 billion in the same quarter last year.

The company board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per share. The record date fixed for the purpose of ascertaining the entitlement is February 10.

Economic Survey Pegs FY22 Growth at 11%

In news from the macroeconomic space, Nirmala Sitharaman has tabled the Economic Survey 2020-21 in the Lok Sabha today.

As per the survey, gross domestic product (GDP) growth is seen expanding by 11% in the 2021-22 fiscal. The gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by a record 23.9% in April-June and by 7.5% in the second quarter. For the full fiscal year 2020-21, the survey projected a GDP contraction of 7.7%.

As per the survey, the economy, which was battered by the coronavirus lockdown, is expected to see a strong recovery in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

India's real GDP is expected to grow by 11% in FY22, making it one of the world's fastest growing economies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Economic Survey 2020-21 tabled in Parliament on January 29.

For the first half of FY22, the RBI had forecast a real GDP growth rate of 14.2%.

The survey stated that economic scars that the Indian economy is currently having to cope with run rather deep and are challenging. For the first time, there was de-growth. The economy is technically in a recession having been witness to a contraction in the GDP for the last two consecutive quarters.

Experts hope the attempt to assess the health of the Indian economy and measures required to revive it will not just look at ways to rebound from the de-growth but also come up with big ideas.

There may also be sections devoted to agriculture reforms, health care, banking and the MSMEs (Micro Small & Medium Enterprises).

IPO Buzz: Brookfield India REIT Seeks to Raise US$ 522 Million

In news from the IPO space...

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, backed by Canadian asset manager Brookfield Asset Management Inc., is seeking to raise as much as US$ 522 million in an Indian initial public offering (IPO).

Brookfield REIT is selling 138.2 million units to 138.5 million units at Rs 274 to 275 each, according to terms of the deal. It will take investor orders from February 3 to February 5 before a listing scheduled for February 17, the terms show.

India has been seeking to attract more real estate investment trusts (REIT) IPOs in recent years by tweaking rules to make the vehicle more attractive for investors and developers.

A number of property trusts have since gone public, including Blackstone Group Inc.-backed Mindspace Business Parks REIT last year and Embassy Office Parks REIT in 2019, the country's first REIT IPO.

Brookfield, which manages US$ 578 billion in assets globally, owns and operates about 22 million square feet of office properties in India.

Brookfield REIT will use the funds raised in the IPO to partially or fully repay existing debt and general corporate purposes.

How this REIT sails through remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest news from this space. Stay tuned.

And to know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

Read the latest Market Commentary


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