Domestic equity indices continued to witness bloodbath in late morning deals amid fresh escalations in US-Iran tensions. Hectic selling in TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Infosys and ITC dragged both Sensex and Nifty to trade below their psychological 73,800 and 23,250 levels respectively. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar weighed down sentiments. Rupee weakened by 41 paise to 95.78 against the dollar at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange market. Further, rising crude oil prices in international market also weighed on domestic sentiments. Crude oil prices rose as investors weighed uncertainty over U.S.-Iran talks with the two countries launching fresh strikes, even as President Donald Trump said negotiations with Tehran were ongoing. Meanwhile, India VIX, the market's volatility gauge, rose 8.38 per cent to 16.64.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green following positive cues from the US markets overnight. Back home, most of sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in red led by IT, TECK, Realty, Utilities and Consumer Durables.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73764.36, down by 885.48 points or 1.19% after trading in a range of 73659.13 and 74507.73. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.
The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.23%, while IT down by 4.54%, TECK down by 2.97%, Realty down by 1.94%, Utilities down by 1.10% and Consumer Durables down by 1.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The few gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.79%, Trent up by 0.53% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.09%. On the flip side, TCS down by 8.13%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.78%, HCL Technologies down by 4.10%, Infosys down by 3.50% and ITC down by 2.52% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, Crisil Intelligence in its latest MSME Report has said that India's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are expected to see slower revenue growth and weaker profitability in the current financial year (FY27) as the ongoing West Asia conflict heavily disrupts India's supply chains and rising energy-linked input costs. It said revenue growth for MSMEs is projected to moderate to 7.5-8.5 per cent in fiscal 2027, down by 100 basis points compared with FY26, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins are expected to decline by 50-100 basis points to 5-5.5 per cent.
The report stated that amid the Covid-19 pandemic, large players had seen revenue decline by up to 1 per cent in FY20 and FY21, while MSMEs experienced a 3-5 per cent drop. The EBITDA margin of MSMEs had also declined 80 bps to 4.7 per cent in FY21. It said the West Asia crisis is following a similar pattern, with small businesses bearing a disproportionate burden.
However, the report pointed out that MSMEs face a dual challenge this time round: first, production cuts and revenue losses due to reduced availability of raw material such as gas and, second, margin compression stemming from trade disruptions and limited pricing power to pass on increasing commodity and energy costs. Based on impact, Crisil Intelligence classified affected MSMEs into three broad categories--those dependent on energy-related raw materials such as gas, those reliant on energy-linked derivatives and those vulnerable to trade disruptions.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23224.80, down by 258.75 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 23194.80 and 23447.65. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Apollo Hospital up by 2.21%, Max Healthcare up by 1.29%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.69%, Trent up by 0.46% and ONGC up by 0.40%. On the flip side, TCS down by 8.23%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.79%, HCL Technologies down by 4.25%, Infosys down by 3.49% and ITC down by 2.67% were the top losers.
Asian markets were mostly trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 1965.76 points or 2.86% to 68,700.00, Taiwan Weighted added 901.85 points or 1.94% to 46,459.16, Shanghai Composite strengthened 20.39 points or 0.5% to 4,095.49 and Straits Times rose 40.21 points or 0.78% to 5,137.63. Jakarta Composite plunged 305.95 points or 5.19% to 5,889.48 and Hang Seng declined 458.32 points or 1.79% to 25,580.00.
