Bears continue to grapple Indian markets in early noon deals

Bears continued to grapple Indian equity markets in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty falling over a percent, amid negative cues from other Asian markets and heavy selling at Banking and Capital Goods counters. Sentiments got hit, amid reports that stock investors wealth eroded by more than Rs 2.67 lakh crore in early trade on Friday, March 10, as the markets witnessed a sell-off amid weak global trends. Traders were seen taking a note of another report stating that the Finance Ministry has tightened the definition of beneficial owners under the anti-money laundering law, mandating reporting entities like banks and crypto platforms to collect information from their clients.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower, as South Korea posted a current account deficit of $4.52 billion in January, following the $2.68 billion surplus in December. The goods account saw a 7.46 $billion deficit, down from the $1.54 billion surplus a year earlier. The services account deficit increased to $3.27 billion, from $0.83 billion in January the year prior, owing to a decrease in the transport account surplus and an increase in the travel account deficit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59056.87, down by 749.41 points or 1.25% after trading in a range of 58884.98 and 59262.47. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.96%, while Small cap index was down by 0.55%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.81% and Power up by 0.71%, while Bankex down by 1.87%, Capital Goods down by 1.08%, Telecom down by 0.94%, IT down by 0.93% and PSU down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 0.60%, NTPC up by 0.31%, ITC up by 0.24% and Power Grid Corporation of India up by 0.11%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.45%, HDFC Bank down by 2.29%, SBI down by 2.11%, HDFC down by 2.09% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed between India and Australia is a transformative agreement, which will unlock the next level of potential in trade and investment.

He expressed his sincere appreciation for the large turnout of Australian investors that came to India as well as for the key Indian business houses that participated in the event. He added that the delegation of Australian investors is one of the most serious and high-profile ones to have visited India from Down Under. He was very optimistic about the complementarities between both the nations and added that this juncture is a turning point in accelerating economic co-operation and mutual benefits in the relationship between Australia and India.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal noted that the current goal of doubling the bilateral trade must be reset by the industries and CEOs as there was great potential to increase trade manifold between the two nations. He also reiterated the growth potential of the bilateral trade and investments between India and Australia. Besides, Senator Don Farrell pointed out that $2.5 billion worth of trade benefitted from the lower tariffs arising from the ECTA agreement in Jan 2023 alone and reassured that this growth will continue to rise further. He urged the industry to think much bigger to satiate the demands of the growing relationship.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17383.10, down by 206.50 points or 1.17% after trading in a range of 17324.35 and 17451.50. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 0.62%, Dr Reddy's Laboratories up by 0.55%, ITC up by 0.37%, NTPC up by 0.36% and BPCL up by 0.29%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.08%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.74%, Axis Bank down by 2.39%, HDFC Bank down by 2.30% and SBI down by 2.08% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Hang Seng declined  538.5 points or  2.7% to 19,387.24, Nikkei 225 slipped  479.18 points or  1.7% to 28,143.97, Taiwan Weighted lost  244.46 points or  1.57% to 15,526.20, Shanghai Composite weakened  42.36 points or  1.29% to 3,233.73, Straits Times fell  38.43 points or  1.2% to 3,176.08, Jakarta Composite plunged  33.4 points or  0.49% to 6,766.40 and KOSPI dropped  24.5 points or  1.02% to 2,394.59.