Benchmarks remain deeply in red on rate jitters

Benchmarks were trading lower with cut of over one percent in late morning deals tracking weak global markets on concerns about the impact the aggressive rate increases will have on the global economy.  After a slew of hawkish central bank decisions, street now expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise the repo rate by 50 basis points next week. Meanwhile, the session was also proving weak for broader indices which were trading with losses in the range of 0.90-1.10%. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the US dollar for the first time. On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading lower following negative cues from US markets overnight, amid continuing concerns about the impending recession and the global economic outlook. Back home, stock specific development, Tata Steel surged after the company's board approved amalgamation of seven group companies with itself. On the sectoral front, traders were seen piling up position in Healthcare, IT, TECK, and Basic Materials, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, PSU, Utilities, Power and Auto.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58479.23, down by 640.49 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 58378.99 and 59143.32. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.06%, while Small cap index down by 0.90%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.59%, IT up by 0.37%, TECK up by 0.25%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.02% and Basic Materials up by 0.01%, while Bankex down by 2.06%, PSU down by 1.66%, Utilities down by 1.57%, Power down by 1.52%, Auto down by 1.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.46%, Tata Steel up by 1.40%, Infosys up by 1.04%, HCL Tech. up by 0.53% and ITC up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 4.57%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.39%, HDFC down by 2.56%, Indusind Bank down by 2.44% and Axis Bank down by 2.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, has released the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, under which it has proposed a provision to waive off fees and penalty of telecom and internet service providers. The ministry has proposed provision for refund of fees in case a telecom or internet provider surrenders his license.

According to the draft , the central government may, ‘waive in part or full any fee, including entry fees, license fees, registrations fees or any other fees or charges, interest, additional charges or penalty’ for any licence holder or registered entity under the telecom rules. The bill proposes to exempt ‘press messages that are intended to be published in India’ of correspondents accredited to the central or state government from interception.

However, the exemption will not be granted in case of any public emergency or in the interest of the public safety, sovereignty, integrity or security of India, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, or to prevent incitement to an offence, according to the draft. In such cases ‘any message or class of messages, to or from any person or class of persons, or relating to any particular subject, brought for transmission by, or transmitted or received by any telecommunication services or telecommunication network, shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained or disclosed’ to the authorized officer, according to the draft bill.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17458.45, down by 171.35 points or 0.97% after trading in a range of 17413.50 and 17642.15. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Divi's Lab up by 2.41%, Tata Steel up by 1.50%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.44%, Infosys up by 1.03% and Cipla up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corp down by 4.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.16%, HDFC down by 2.44%, Indusind Bank down by 2.38% and HDFC Bank down by 2.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in red; Straits Times slipped 29.36 points or 0.90% to 3,233.71, Hang Seng plunged 40.78 points or 0.22% to 18,107.17, Taiwan Weighted lost 141.26 points or 0.99% to 14,143.37, KOSPI fell 39.20 points or 1.68% to 2,293.11 and Jakarta Composite declined 31.04 points or 0.43% to 7,187.87. However, Shanghai Composite was up by 4.77 points or 0.15% to 3,112.39.