Following the weakness of Asian rivals, Indian equity markets remained in the red in the midday session. The Sensex is currently trading below the psychological barrier of 59,400. The widely followed indicator, the Nifty, is also trading below the 17,750 thresholds. Traders were concerned after India’s first case of the coronavirus XE variant was reported in Mumbai.

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The yield on the 10-year government bond inched up to about 7% ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy review slated for Friday, according to private reports, on fears that the central bank might hike the inflation prediction.

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Asian markets were trading mostly lower with Hang Seng decreasing 236.15 points or 1.07% to 21,844.37, Shanghai Composite declined 33.40 points or 1.02% to 3,250.03, Nikkei 225 slipped 461.73 points or 1.69% to 26,888.57, KOSPI fell 35.41 points or 1.29% to 2,699.62, Straits Times trembled 19.83 points or 0.58% to 3,403.12 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 343.87 points or 1.96% to 17,178.63. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 17.86 points or 0.25% to 7,122.08.

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Sensex is presently trading at 59,376.07, down 234.34 points or 0.39% from its low of 59,120.06 and high of 59,466.24. On the index, there were 14 stocks that rose and 16 that fell.

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The broader indices were trading in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.60%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.48%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.98%, Utilities up by 1.97%, Realty up by 1.43%, Bankex up by 0.85% and PSU was up by 0.68%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.89%, TECK down by 0.62%, Metal down by 0.49%, IT down by 0.48% and Capital Goods was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.46%, ICICI Bank up by 1.82%, NTPC up by 1.70%, Indusind Bank up by 1.63% and Dr Reddy’s Lab was up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 2.26%, HDFC down by 2.05%, Wipro down by 1.57%, HDFC Bank down by 1.38% and Reliance Industries was down by 1.35% were the top losers.

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Nifty is presently trading at 17,743.60, down 64.05 points or 0.36% from a low of 17,672.30 and a high of 17,772.40. On the index, there were 29 equities that rose and 21 stocks that fell.

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The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.41%, Eicher Motors up by 1.70%, NTPC up by 1.70%, ICICI Bank up by 1.66% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Titan Company was down by 2.37%, HDFC down by 2.11%, Wipro down by 1.63%, Hindalco down by 1.50% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 1.44% were the top losers.