Indian equity markets have extended losses in late afternoon session amid surge in Brent crude oil prices and 25 bps interest rate hike by RBI. The Brent crude oil prices have spiked to trade above the $106 a barrel mark amid escalating tensions in West Asia. Investors also took a cautious stance after RBI ruled out interest-rate cuts in the near term, indicating that central bank may hike interest rate or pause depending on inflation and other economic conditions evolve in coming time. However, markets have made a slight recovery from day’s low but continued to trade below the neutral lines. Value buying at lower level has helped markets to recover from day’s low.
On the global front, Asian and European equity markets were trading lower amid rebound in crude oil prices and bond yields.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 72714.00, down by 353.81 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 72468.72 and 73018.82. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.
The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.66% and Bankex up by 0.15%, while Metal down by 2.14%, Consumer Durables down by 1.82%, Basic Materials down by 1.45%, Realty down by 1.39% and Auto down by 1.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.32%, ICICI Bank up by 0.75%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.67% and Eternal up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.66%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.23%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.16%, Asian Paints down by 2.07% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.05% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India is stepping up efforts to deepen its economic engagement with the United States, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal meeting several senior leaders of leading U.S. companies in New York to discuss opportunities for strengthening India-U.S. trade and to invite top US companies to explore investment opportunities in India.
Engagements with Blackstone and General Atlantic focused on opportunities to expand investment and business partnerships in India, while discussions with Neuberger Berman covered opportunities to deepen investment linkages and strengthen engagement in financial and wealth management services.
The Minister’s discussions with IBM focused on further strengthening IBM’s engagement in India and expanding collaboration in AI, cloud infrastructure, quantum computing and other emerging technologies. Meanwhile, talks with the Estee Lauder Companies centred on growth opportunities in India, including through increased manufacturing and sourcing, and India’s growing beauty and personal care market.
The financial services sector also remained a key area of engagement, with MetLife and AIA Group discussions focusing on India’s expanding insurance market and the broader financial services opportunity. The engagements are particularly relevant to India’s vision of ‘Insurance for All by 2047’.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22629.40, down by 146.70 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 22546.30 and 22717.65. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.05%, BSE up by 1.33%, ICICI Bank up by 1.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.07% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Titan Company down by 3.74%, Adani Enterprises down by 3.52%, JSW Steel down by 2.40%, HCL Technologies down by 2.39% and Shriram Finance down by 2.38% were the top losers.
Asian equity markets were trading lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 380.98 points or 0.54% to 70,303.00, Taiwan Weighted lost 16.18 points or 0.03% to 49,806.37, Hang Seng declined 190.56 points or 0.79% to 24,090.00, KOSPI dropped 137.49 points or 2.02% to 6,803.90, Straits Times fell 90.76 points or 1.62% to 5,610.78 and Jakarta Composite plunged 45.54 points or 0.74% to 6,147.39.
European equity markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 33.89 points or 0.32% to 10,507.80, France’s CAC fell 60.07 points or 0.77% to 7,805.00 and Germany’s DAX lost 182.19 points or 0.72% to 25,267.00.
