Indian markets trade deeply in red in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start on Monday amid the ongoing banking crisis in the US and Europe. Lackluster opening in Asian counterparts also dented domestic sentiments as traders remained cautious and assess the impact of the crisis in the global banking sector, even as failing financial institutions secure a lifeline from peer institutions and central banks to avoid a global meltdown. Now, Indian markets are trading deeply in red with cut of around 0.90% each in early deals as selling got intensified in counters such as Metal, IT and TECK. Some cautiousness came in as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statistical supplement showed India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $560 billion as of the week ended March 10, their lowest since early-December. Traders were concerned as former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said India is growing but the sequential quarter growth is declining and the economy is ‘losing steam’.

In stock specific developments, HDFC declined as RBI imposes penalty worth Rs 5 lakh on account of certain regulatory violations. However, SJVN climbed as it wins order from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution. Besides, the rupee continued its upward trend and rose 11 paise to 82.48 against the US dollar in early trade, tracking fall in crude oil prices and firm Asian currencies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 57484.10, down by 505.80 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 57424.76 and 57829.23. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.89%, while Small cap index was down by 0.75%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 1.56%, IT down by 1.39%, TECK down by 1.36%, Auto down by 1.29%, Realty down by 0.97%, while there was no gaining sectoral index on BSE.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.55% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.34%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.77%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.69%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.61% and Infosys down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram has said India is growing but the sequential quarter growth is declining and the economy is ‘losing steam’. He also accused the government of ‘neglecting’ the poor and the very poor. He said ‘the reality is we are growing but the quarter upon quarter growth or the sequential quarter growth is declining -- 13.2 per cent, 6.3 per cent, 4.4 per cent and the fourth quarter, my estimate is, between 4.1 per cent and 4.3 per cent. So, it is a declining quarterly growth rate, which means the Indian economy is losing steam’.

About India growing faster among the major economies of the world, the former finance minister said ‘there is no boast in saying ‘I am the one-eyed monarch of the blind’. The point is China, when it grows at 3 per cent or 3.5 per cent, will still add every year to its annual wealth or annual output several times more than India growing at 7 per cent.’

He added ‘China is five-and-a-half-times larger than India. Therefore, the relevant number is the per capita income and (according to) per capita income, we are still a very poor country’. He further said ‘The government was wrong in not giving a fiscal stimulus. That's why three crore people had to migrate from other cities and states, back to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16936.45, down by 163.60 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 16928.55 and 17066.60. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.48%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.89%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.48%, ONGC up by 0.46% and Divi's Lab up by 0.29%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 3.12%, Apollo Hospital down by 2.66%, Hindalco down by 2.19%, JSW Steel down by 1.85% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 499.01 points or 2.56% to 19,019.58, Nikkei 225 slipped 273.75 points or 1% to 27,060.04, Jakarta Composite plunged 53.22 points or 0.8% to 6,625.02, Straits Times fell 34.01 points or 1.07% to 3,149.27, Taiwan Weighted lost 32.51 points or 0.21% to 15,420.45 and KOSPI dropped 11.07 points or 0.46% to 2,384.62, while Shanghai Composite was up by 4.03 points or 0.12% to 3,254.58.