Bourses turn negative in late afternoon session

Tracking weak European markets cues, Indian markets off from highs and turned negative in late afternoon session. Some weakness in select banking shares dragged key gauges lower, while healthy buying in metal stocks helped markets to trade near neutral lines. Besides, broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index maintained their gains. Investors kept a close eye on the developments surrounding the SVB crisis after Moody's Investors downgraded the outlook on the U.S. banking system to 'negative' from 'stable'. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as U.S. bank contagion fears eased and China's economic data for January and February confirmed activity was recovering in the aftermath of COVID restrictions and outbreaks. European markets were trading lower as worries about SVB contagion and inflation eased.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57811.81, down by 88.38 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 57768.28 and 58473.63. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.86%, Power up by 1.66%, Metal up by 1.34%, Capital Goods up by 1.21% and Consumer Durables was up by 1.17%, while Telecom down by 0.52%, FMCG down by 0.48%, Realty down by 0.42%, TECK down by 0.28% and Bankex was down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 3.16%, Tata Steel up by 2.25%, Power Grid up by 1.75%, Titan Company up by 1.67% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.86%, Nestle down by 1.76%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.53%, Indusind Bank down by 1.51% and Axis Bank down by 1.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that the IT ministry will take up woes of Indian startups impacted by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse with the finance ministry to help them navigate through the crisis and address the immediate liquidity crunch they are facing.

According to the minister, though startups and venture capitalists said that the US government authorities have assured of returning full money to the depositors, there is no clarity on the timelines, which will lead to a liquidity crunch in the firms that have been impacted by the SVB collapse. Most of the Indian software-as-a-services startups with a presence in the US and firms linked to incubator Y Combinator are among those entities who are feeling the heat of the SVB collapse.  Some of the startups shared that they were able to move their funds to US-based banks, but are exploring ways to shift their account to safer destinations.

The minister asked startups to explore ways to use the Indian banking system and shared that the government will try to create a framework to help them continue to operate the way they do in the US without any hassle. He said 'I would certainly think that we must figure out a way of getting you to use the Indian banking system without changing your business model, how you operate in the US or your payroll in the US or your expenses in the US. We will create a separate framework and create more awareness of this in the earliest possible time.'

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17037.85, down by 5.45 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 17024.95 and 17211.35. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 7.11%, Adani Ports up by 4.42%, Asian Paints up by 3.14%, Tata Steel up by 2.26% and Power Grid up by 1.82%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.93%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.93%, Indusind Bank down by 1.62%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.52% and Britannia down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 291.91 points or 1.49% to 19,539.87, Straits Times rose 39.34 points or 1.24% to 3,169.09, KOSPI increased 30.75 points or 1.29% to 2,379.72, Taiwan Weighted added 27.17 points or 0.18% to 15,387.59, Shanghai Composite strengthened 18 points or 0.55% to 3,263.31 and Nikkei 225 was up by 7.44 points or 0.03% to 27,229.48. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 13.67 points or 0.21% to 6,628.14.

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.7 points or 0.5% to 7,599.41, France’s CAC fell 48.06 points or 0.68% to 7,093.51 and Germany’s DAX was down by 46.09 points or 0.3% to 15,186.74.