Benchmarks end marginally in red on Tuesday

28 Mar 2023 Evaluate

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally in the red on Tuesday, as caution prevailed ahead of the F&O expiry on Wednesday. Markets made a positive start as traders took some support with SBI Research in its latest Ecowrap report stating that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to pause their interest rate hike and the current 6.5 per cent repo rate could be the terminal rate for now. The next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for the first week of April 2023. Some support also came with Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal’s statement that India will be looking to push the rupee trade agenda in the G-20 meetings it is organising as part of its ongoing presidency of the forum. He added rupee trade will be of help, especially with those countries whose currencies are under pressure.

But, key gauges soon erased gains and traded volatile, as foreign fund outflows dented the domestic sentiments. FPIs returned to their old ways by selling shares to the tune of Rs 890 crore on March 27. Traders were also seen taking a note of report  that the finance ministry has asked public sector banks (PSBs) to do proper monitoring of top loans and make adequate provisions for pledged shares of big corporates in view of the current global financial scenario emanating from the failure of some international banks in the US and Europe. Meanwhile, Markets regulator Sebi has simplified the procedural requirements for onboarding of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in a bid to facilitate ease of doing business and to reduce the time taken for their registration.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as investors shrugged off survey results from the statistical office Insee showing that French manufacturers' confidence slightly worsened in March for the first time in four months. The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 104 in March from 105 in the previous month as the balance of opinion regarding the change in past and future output decreased. Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday as concerns over the banking crisis eased and China's top leaders pledged to keep embracing foreign capital despite economic and geopolitical headwinds.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 40.14 points or 0.07% to 57,613.72 and the CNX Nifty was down by 34.00 points or 0.20% to 16,951.70.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 57,949.45 and 57,494.91, respectively. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.42%, while Small cap index was down by 0.79%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.33%, Financial Services up by 0.25% and Metal up by 0.24%, while Telecom down by 1.60%, Realty down by 1.17%, Utilities down by 1.06%, Power down by 0.96% and Oil & Gas down by 0.95% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.33%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.95%, HDFC Bank up by 0.94%, ICICI Bank up by 0.83% and HDFC up by 0.68%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.90%, Tata Motors down by 2.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.80%, Wipro down by 1.40% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that India will be looking to push the rupee trade agenda in the G-20 meetings it is organising as part of its ongoing presidency of the forum. Barthwal said rupee trade will be of help, especially with those countries whose currencies are under pressure.

He stated ‘Definitely, we would like to see that rupee trade also happens, particularly those countries which are facing issues.’ He also said that the issue of rupee trade is not directly linked with the G-20 forum. It can be noted that as of now, India has been successful in forging agreements with 18 countries since embarking on the agenda of settling trade in the rupee amid currency volatility last year. India is the President of G-20 in the current term.

About 100 delegates from various G-20 countries, special invitee countries and international organisations will be attending the three-day meeting in the financial capital from Tuesday (March 28, 2023). The ministry has already prepared five priority areas to be discussed at the meeting, Barthwal said, adding that the deliberations will be the stepping stones for the final G-20 leaders meeting in September.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,061.75 and 16,913.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.01%, Indusind Bank up by 1.99%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.25%, ICICI Bank up by 0.97% and HDFC Bank up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 6.97%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 5.18%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.64%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.41% and Tata Motors down by 2.33% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.86 points or 0.02% to 7,473.63, France’s CAC rose 5.33 points or 0.08% to 7,083.60 and Germany’s DAX gained 9.75 points or 0.06% to 15,137.43.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday on easing banking woes after Regional US lender First Citizens BancShares said it would acquire Silicon Valley Bank's deposits and loans as well as certain other assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Japanese shares gained slightly after Japan’s cabinet approved the use of some funds from the fiscal 2022 budget for measures to soften the impact of inflation. However, Chinese shares declined after reports that the Chinese government will probe over 30 state-owned firms to weed out corruption.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %  

Shanghai Composite

3,245.38-6.02-0.19

Hang Seng

19,784.65216.961.10

Jakarta Composite

6,760.3351.400.76

KLSE Composite

1,409.09

12.490.89

Nikkei 225

27,518.2541.380.15

Straits Times

3,255.5416.510.51

KOSPI Composite

2,434.94

25.721.06

Taiwan Weighted

15,701.48-128.83-0.82


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