Sensex, Nifty extend losses in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses in early noon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading near their intraday low points, despite positive cues from other Asian markets. The street got cautious, amid a private report stating that the central government has placed strict conditions on states to avail of the Rs 1.3 trillion in long-term loans for their capital expenditure (capex) needs in the approaching fiscal year (2023-24, or FY24) to ensure effective utilisation of funds. Traders also took a note of another private report that the implosion of California-based lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) should not have any lasting macro-economic ripple effect on India. It may, perhaps, impact liquidity of start-ups, which are already in the midst of a funding winter.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after Japan large manufacturers' sentiment posted a sharp deterioration in the first quarter. The business outlook survey published by the Ministry of Finance showed that the business survey index of large manufacturers fell to -10.5 in the March quarter from -3.6 in the preceding period. The score is forecast to improve markedly to -0.7 in the second quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 58782.72, down by 352.41 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 58760.73 and 59510.92. There were 3 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 1.07%, while Small cap index was down by 1.36%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.61%, Power up by 0.48%, Oil & Gas up by 0.21% and Metal up by 0.12%, while Auto down by 1.34%, Telecom down by 1.29%, Consumer Durables down by 1.01%, Industrials down by 0.94% and Bankex down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The few gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 8.10%, Power Grid up by 0.22% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 6.15%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.15%, Tata Motors down by 2.07%, Infosys down by 1.96% and Titan down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India and Australia have expressed their commitment for concluding the negotiations for expanding the scope of existing free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of this year with an aim to push the bilateral trade to $100 billion. On December 29, last year India and Australia implemented an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) and are now negotiating to expand its scope for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA).

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said ‘ECTA was the first stage of our economic engagement. We are now entering into phase-2 of our discussions where we are looking at much wider ambit of subjects and taking this into a CECA.’ He said huge opportunities are there to increase cooperation in areas like education, technology, audio-video services and sports. While Australia has some very fine technologies, best of education institutes and sports, he said India can offer in terms of its talent pool, manufacturing base and startup ecosystem.

On increasing agri trade with Australia, Goyal said that there are several areas of mutual interest, which are under consideration of agriculture ministries of both sides to resolve sanitary and phyto-sanitary (related with plans and animals) problems. He also said ‘there is an opening up of some elements of agriculture in the ECTA and with an open mind we will be looking at forward movement wherever there are areas of complimentarity and mutual benefit’. He said that India is open to negotiations and look to engage with the rest of the world from a position of strength and learn from the best practices.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17309.60, down by 103.30 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 17306.95 and 17529.90. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 8.05%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.22%, ONGC up by 1.03%, JSW Steel up by 0.73% and Hindalco up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 6.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.12%, Tata Motors down by 2.12%, Infosys down by 2.00% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted added 34.29 points or 0.22% to 15,560.49, Hang Seng advanced 323.21 points or 1.67% to 19,643.13, Shanghai Composite strengthened 38.62 points or 1.18% to 3,268.70, KOSPI increased 14.4 points or 0.6% to 2,408.99 and Jakarta Composite gained 17.72 points or 0.26% to 6,783.02, while Straits Times fell 36.45 points or 1.15% to 3,140.98 and Nikkei 225 slipped 311.01 points or 1.12% to 27,832.96.