Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets witnessed bloodbath throughout the session led by a heavy sell-off in the banking sector. Markets did not once break out in green and remained largely sluggish as traders played safer to take any bets in blue-chip stocks ahead of important events like India’s IIP numbers and US employment report. Marketmen feared that fed rate hikes would trouble in to the overall growth of Indian economy, while weakness in the global markets too undermined local sentiments. The US markets ended deeply in red on Thursday, with bank stocks creating the biggest drag. Investors grew increasingly concerned that higher interest rates would result in banks facing losses on loans due to borrower defaults. Besides, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned rates might be raised faster than expected to cool stubbornly high inflation. As for broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index remained in red since morning.

The benchmarks got off to a gap down start as investors squared off positions tracking discouraging leads from regional peers. Foreign fund outflows dampened domestic sentiments. The National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 561.78 crore on March 9. Further, markets extended their losses, as traders were concerned with a private report stating that retail inflation in India likely eased a bit last month but stayed above the Reserve Bank of India's upper threshold for a second straight month, keeping the central bank on course for further policy tightening. Continued selling pressure in last leg of trade forced markets to go home with the cut of over a percent.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as nervousness ahead of the widely-watched U.S. jobs report and weakness in the banking sector overshadowed better-than-expected U.K. growth data. All Asian markets ended lower, as investors waited for U.S. labor market data due later in the day that could have significant implications on the Federal Reserve's rate outlook. Back home, a joint study carried out by Assocham-Crisil Rating has unveiled that gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of Indian banks are expected to decline 90 basis points (bps) to less than five per cent in FY23 and hit a decadal low of sub-four per cent by March 31, 2024. The study attributed the decline in gross NPAs to the post-Covid economic recovery and higher credit growth.

The BSE Sensex ended at 59,135.13, down by 671.15 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 58,884.98 and 59,262.47. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.69%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.21%, Power up by 1.08%, Oil & Gas up by 0.21%, Consumer Durables up by 0.17% and FMCG was up by 0.03%, while Bankex down by 1.85%, Capital Goods down by 1.08%, Realty down by 1.07%, Industrials down by 0.85%, PSU down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 0.95%, NTPC up by 0.78%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.76%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.33% and Sun Pharma up by 0.28%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 2.58%, HDFC down by 2.09%, Indusind Bank down by 2.02%, SBI down by 2.00% and Axis Bank down by 1.94% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s exports growth, Union Minister for State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel has said that the country’s merchandise and services exports combined in the current financial year ending March will be close to $760-770 billion. The country's merchandise and services exports stood at $672 billion in the last fiscal.

Patel said ‘we are focusing in every possible way on how we can export more and more because today India's share in global merchandise trade is close to 1.8 per cent. As far as services trade is concerned, it is just 4 per cent. We want to take it to 10 per cent’.

The minister also mentioned that the Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and with the increasing globalisation of trade, there is immense potential for Indian businesses, particularly brands to expand their footprint in the international market.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17,412.90, down by 176.70 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 17,324.35 and 17,451.50. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 0.84%, NTPC up by 0.72%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.70%, Britannia up by 0.45% and BPCL up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.92%, HDFC Bank down by 2.58%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.28%, HDFC down by 2.18% and Indusind Bank down by 2.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 135.38 points or 1.75% to 7,744.60, France’s CAC fell 100.38 points or 1.39% to 7,215.50 and Germany’s DAX was down by 227.07 points or 1.47% to 15,406.14. 

Asian markets settled lower on Friday ahead of important US jobs data due later in the day for more cues on US monetary policy. Market sentiments declined further by tracking fall in Wall Street shares overnight following Silicon Valley Bank's surprise decision to sell much of its bond portfolio at a $1.8 billion loss that prompted concerns about the value of US banks' bond portfolios. Seoul shares declined after data showed South Korea logged a record high current account deficit in January. Moreover, Japanese shares fell as BoJ kept its controversial yield curve control program unchanged ahead of a leadership transition in April.