Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets failed to hold early gains till the end and turned out to be an ordinary day of trade with losing most of their gains in second half of the session. Heavy sell off in banking counters dragged markets lower. Traders remained cautious with developments surrounding the SVB crisis after Moody's Investors downgraded the outlook on the U.S. banking system to 'negative' from 'stable'. After went for bargain hunting in morning session, investors sold out riskier assets in late afternoon session, as rally got fizzled out in later part of the trade which was higher in early deals after moderate US Inflation data cheered domestic sentiments. US. Inflation in the US moderated to 6.0 per cent in February, from 6.4 per cent in January and 6.5 per cent in December, and 7.1 per cent the month before but still is way above the 2 per cent target. Investors still maintained fear regarding the size of the rate hike at next week's FOMC meeting.

After previous session losses, indices bounced back in green due to value buying in early deals, particularly in the banking sector. Sentiments were positive as Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government is taking steps to make India a $5 trillion economy earlier than the International Monetary Fund’s forecast year of 2026-27. However, indices off from highs and turned negative, as investors booked their profit amid fear of banking crisis. Besides, European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers are leaning toward a 50 basis points (bps) rate hike on at tomorrow’s meeting, despite the ongoing banking sector turmoil.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as worries about SVB contagion and inflation eased. Asian markets ended 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. Back home, 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.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57,555.90, down by 344.29 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 57,455.67 and 58,473.63. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.19%, Power up by 1.06%, Metal up by 1.01%, Consumer Durables up by 0.97% and Capital Goods was up by 0.91%, while Telecom down by 1.20%, Bankex down by 0.86%, Realty down by 0.69%, Energy down by 0.66% and TECK was down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.99%, Tata Steel up by 2.02%, Titan Company up by 1.93%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.43% and Power Grid up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.92%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.83%, Reliance Industries down by 1.69%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.48% and Axis Bank down by 1.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, The Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the government is taking steps to make India a $5 trillion economy at an early date. Earlier, the IMF's World Economic Outlook said the size of the Indian economy will increase from $3.2 trillion in 2021-22 to $3.5 trillion in 2022-23 and cross $5 trillion in 2026-27. Observing that the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 has impacted the world output, increased inflation in several countries and raised uncertainty in the world economy, the minister said ‘lower uncertainty in the global economic outlook will help the country become a $5 trillion-dollar economy earlier’.

He said some of the important measures taken by the government in the past to boost economic growth include the making of the National infrastructure pipeline of projects, push to capital expenditure, implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, finalisation of the National Monetization Pipeline of public sector assets and formulation of National Logistics policy. He further said that capital expenditure will be speeded up by PM Gatishakti for integrated planning of infrastructure and synchronised project implementation across all concerned central ministries, departments and state governments.

He noted that the Union Budget 2023-24 further sustains the growth momentum with an increase in capital investment outlay for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore (3.3 per cent of GDP). The other initiatives to boost the economy include enhanced outlay for PM Awas Yojana, the launch of the Aspirational Blocks Programme covering 500 blocks for saturation of essential government services; an increase in agriculture credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries; and setting up of Agriculture Accelerator Fund to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas, among others.

The minister also said that the direct capital investment by the Centre is being complemented by the provision made for the creation of capital assets through grants-in-aid to states. In order to improve logistics performance, he said one hundred critical transport infrastructure projects for last and first-mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grains sectors have been identified and will be prioritised for development.

The CNX ended at 16,972.15, down by 71.15 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 16,938.90 and 17,211.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.80%, Adani Ports up by 3.80%, Asian Paints up by 2.98%, Tata Steel up by 2.11% and Titan Company up by 1.85%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.96%, Indusind Bank down by 1.85%, Reliance Industries down by 1.71%, Nestle down by 1.49% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 83.64 points or 1.11% to 7,553.47, France’s CAC fell 97.82 points or 1.39% to 7,043.75 and Germany’s DAX was down by 128.79 points or 0.85% to 15,104.04.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday tracking rally in Wall Street overnight after data showed US inflation eased slightly last month, while easing concerns over contagion effect in the banking sector also supported market sentiments. Chinese shares gained after data showed China's industrial production and retail sales expanded in the January to February period. Japanese shares ended unchanged as the Bank of Japan’s January meeting minutes showed that board members reiterating the need to maintain its ultra-dovish stance. Although, investors are cautiously awaiting next week's FOMC meeting.