Bears take control over Dalal Street in late trade

Indian equity markets continued to trade lower in late afternoon session amidst persistent FII’s sell off and fears of US reciprocal tariffs after trump recent statement. The market participants remained cautious after a report showing that consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by much more than expected in February amid a surge by year-ahead inflation expectations. While the broader markets were trading lower, the auto stocks made significant recovery and turned positive after reports stating Tesla’s entry wouldn’t significantly impact the already existing automakers in the domestic market, however India-US trade deal will create more opportunities for Indian automaker in US markets.

On global front, Asian equity markets were trading in red, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street. The European equity markets were also trading in red, after Germany's centre-right CDU won the parliamentary election.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 74493.73, down by 817.33 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 74387.44 and 74907.04. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index down by 0.95%, while Small cap index was down by 1.17%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.23% and Auto up by 0.22%, while IT down by 2.80%, TECK down by 2.70%, Metal down by 2.33%, Telecom down by 2.24% and Basic Materials down by 1.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.56%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.51%, ITC up by 0.36%, Nestle up by 0.24% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.10%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 3.47%, Infosys down by 3.16%, Zomato down by 2.87%, TCS down by 2.75% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.52% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to meet the durable liquidity needs of the system, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is all set to inject Rupee liquidity for longer duration through long-term USD/INR Buy/Sell swap. Accordingly, the RBI will be conducting a USD/INR Buy/Sell swap auction of $10 billion for a tenor of 3 years.

The three-year swap auction will be held on February 28, 2025. The market participants would be required to place their bids in terms of the premium that they are willing to pay to the Reserve Bank for the tenor of the swap, expressed in paisa terms up to two decimal places. The auction cut-off would be based on the premium. The auction would be a multiple-price based auction, i.e., successful bids will get accepted at their respective quoted premium.

The swap entails the central bank purchasing dollars from banks against the rupee while contracting to sell the greenback at a future date. When the central bank buys dollars, it injects an equivalent quantum of rupee liquidity. This is the second such swap in recent weeks as the monetary authority tries to curb a liquidity deficit in the banking system. Late last month, it injected $5 billion via a six-month foreign-exchange swap.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22556.85, down by 239.05 points or 1.05% after trading in a range of 22518.80 and 22668.05. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.67%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories up by 1.22%, Eicher Motors up by 1.20%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.75% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.80%, HCL Technologies down by 3.55%, Infosys down by 3.22%, TCS down by 2.74% and Tata Steel down by 2.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 136.31 points or 0.58% to 23,341.61, Jakarta Composite plunged 53.94 points or 0.8% to 6,749.06, KOSPI dropped 9.31 points or 0.35% to 2,645.27, Taiwan Weighted lost 164.94 points or 0.7% to 23,565.31, Shanghai Composite weakened 6.08 points or 0.18% to 3,373.03, while Straits Times rose 2.11 points or 0.05% to 3,932.05.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.45 points or 0.05% to 8,654.92, France’s CAC fell 35.18 points or 0.43% to 8,119.33, while Germany’s DAX gained 65.61 points or 0.29% to 22,353.17.