NIFTY BREACHES BELOW 17,200 LEVEL; BANK STOCKS UNDER PRESSURE

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to declined further and hit a fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 17,200 level after hitting the day`s high of 17,529.90 in early trade. Private bank stocks tumbled for the third straight session.

At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 840.52 points or 1.42% to 58,294.61. The Nifty 50 index lost 247.90 points or 1.42% to 17,165.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 1.72% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 2%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 699 shares rose and 2,858 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged.

Over the weekend, U.S. regulators announced plans to backstop both depositors and financial institutions associated with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The US regulators on Sunday (12 March) night cleared a plan for the Silicon Valley Bank to protect depositors and assured that no losses would be borne by the taxpayers.

After SVB`s downfall, New York-based Signature Bank was closed by New York state financial regulators on Sunday. Signature had been a popular funding source for cryptocurrency companies.

Depositors at both failed SVB and Signature Bank in New York, which was shuttered Sunday over similar systemic contagion fears, will have full access to their deposits as part of multiple moves that officials approved over the weekend. Depositors at the bank will have access to their money from Monday.

Today, London-based HSBC announced an agreement with the Bank of England to buy the U.K. operations of Silicon Valley Bank for 1 euro.

"The Bank and (His Majesty`s Treasury) can confirm that all depositors` money with SVBUK is safe and secure as a result of this transaction," the Bank said in a joint statement with the Treasury. "SVBUK`s business will continue to be operated normally by SVBUK. All services will continue to operate as normal and customers should not notice any changes."

Back home, consumer inflation data for February will be unveiled today, 13 March 2023. The annual consumer price inflation in India accelerated to 6.52% in January of 2023, the highest in three months, compared to 5.72% in December.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.368 from 7.429 previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.9850, compared with its close of 82.0650 during the previous trading session

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement rose 0.84% to Rs 56,620.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.55% to 104.

The United States 10-year bond yield slipped 1.71% to 3.632.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement dropped 22 cents or 0.27% to $82.56 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Private Bank index declined 2.17% to 20,162.10. The index was down 4.74% in three trading sessions.

IndusInd Bank (down 6.59%), RBL Bank (down 4.33%), Bandhan Bank (down 2.76%), City Union Bank (down 2.68%), Axis Bank (down 2.43%) Federal Bank (down 2.33%) and IDFC First Bank (down 1.96%) were the top loser.

Among the other losers were Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.43%), ICICI Bank (down 1.4%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.96%).

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