Stock Market LIVE: Sensex down 900 pts, Nifty below 16,600; Asian Paints tank

Share Market LIVE updates: Indian indices fell Wednesday, tracking global cues. Asian stocks declined and oil prices jumped as concerns about the impact of aggressive sanctions against Russia sank shares in Europe and US. At 10am, Sensex fell 861.5 pts to 55,385.78, Nifty was down 1.26% at 16,582.45

Economic risks are tempering expectations for how steeply the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Markets have priced out any risk of a half-point March liftoff. Traders in the U.K. and Europe have also dialed back rate-hike bets.

Market view: ICICI Securities 

Markets technical outlook

On Monday, Nifty entirely recouped initial losses seen after a gap-down opening (16658-16482) and closed near day's high. As a result, daily price action formed a sizable bull candle with small lower shadow, highlighting elevated buying demand that emerged from 52 weeks EMA placed around 16400

As per change of polarity concept earlier support of 16800 is now acting as an immediate resistance for the Nifty over past three sessions. Going ahead, only a decisive close above 16800 along with cool off in VIX and crude oil prices will add fuel to the ongoing pullback rally towards 17200 as it is the 61.8% retracement of February decline (17795-16203), placed at 17186. 

Meanwhile, Monday’s low will be the key monitorable in coming sessions as breach below Monday’s low of 16356 on a closing basis would lead to extended correction towards 16200

Super 15: Stocks benefitting from rising popularity of ESG theme

In a post-Covid world, conscious investing has gained lot of traction among investors. In fact, in 2021, at a global platform, India made a commitment to reach net carbon zero by 2070. With the environment, social and governance (ESG) theme fast catching-up, analysts at Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd have outlined key considerations for investors and picked stocks from five sectors to bet on this theme. 

Bajaj Auto February total sales down 16% year-on-year at 316,020 units

Exports fell 3% on year to 2.03 lakh units in February, while two-wheeler sales declined 16% to 2.79. Three-wheeler sales slipped 14% to 36,683 units last month.

Gold near 13-month high as Ukraine war aids demand

Gold prices declined, but remained near a 13-month high on fears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could turn more brutal, aiding demand for haven assets as investors weigh the potential fallout and sanctions. 

Spot gold retreated 0.5% to $1,935.58 an ounce on Wednesday, after rising 1.9% on Tuesday and 6.2% in February.

Indian banks in a tizzy over Swift's Russia ban

Financial transactions of Indian banks with Russian lenders have come to an abrupt halt after the expulsion of some Russian banks from the Swift international financial messaging network, two bankers said.

Most international transactions are settled in dollars and involve US banks, which cannot transact with Russian entities.

Enforced by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) through its list of sanctioned entities, the Swift sanctions essentially mean banks cannot initiate transactions involving lenders or entities on the list.

Indian banks are hoping the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will work out an alternative payment mechanism as was done when Iran sanctions were imposed in 2012 and again in 2018.

“We cannot unilaterally decide to stop payments because of the sanctions. However, following the sanctions, US banks cannot execute these transactions. We are hoping that later this week, there will be some decision by the government since Russia is an important trade partner," said one of the two bankers cited above, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

BofA, Goldman stick to Fed forecasts even as traders trim bets

Wall Street’s biggest banks are sticking by their calls for as many as seven Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes this year even as traders and some of their peers ratchet back expectations.

Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. still predict the U.S. central bank will raise its benchmark to 2% by year-end from the current range of zero to 0.25%, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. sees the rate reaching 2% in early 2023. Their main argument: surging inflation will compel the Fed to act.

Sure the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions weighing on the country may curb global growth, but they will also fuel further consumer-prices gains by pushing up raw material prices even more.

“The underlying rationale for normalization hasn’t yet changed," said Praveen Korapathy, a strategist at Goldman Sachs in New York. “If all we get is a small hit to growth and still elevated inflation, it makes the Fed’s trade-off worse, but I don’t think it would get them to sit on their hands."

Rates traders see things differently. They have slashed the odds of Fed tightening in recent days as the sanctions on Russia have weighed on the global-growth outlook. Money markets have pared pricing for a rate hike in March to a quarter point from a half-point prior to the invasion, and they now predict the central bank’s key rate will peak at 1.7%, well below the Fed’s long-term estimate of 2.5%.

TD Securities Inc. is among those revising its view. The company now sees a smaller Fed hike this month than it earlier envisaged, and it’s shifting some of its anticipated rate increases to next year.

CDSL becomes first depository to open 6 crore active demat accounts

Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL), the only listed depository in India, said it has achieved the milestone of opening 6 crore active demat accounts.

At an event organised on this occasion, Ananta Barua, whole-time member of Securities and Exchange Board of India, highlighted the importance of investor awareness.

“Dematerialisation was a product of the difficulties caused on account of physical shares. Access to the Indian securities market has become safe, convenient and easy and the new milestone is a representation of the same…the markets were reaching unprecedented new heights and that was possible only due to the ease of business being provided by the MIIs such as eCAS, eNomination, etc. which helped the capacity building of the investors and the whole financials system was benefitted," he said

Sale of passenger, commercial vehicles picks up in February

Passenger and commercial vehicle wholesale dispatches picked up in February, with most manufacturers reporting an improvement in semiconductor supplies and healthy domestic and export demand. Wholesale dispatches for two-wheelers and tractors, however, were lower due to muted domestic demand and a high base of last year.

Maruti Suzuki’s passenger vehicle sales were marginally lower at 164,056 units last month from 164,469 units in February 2021. But, while domestic sales were impacted by chip shortages, the automaker more than doubled its share of exports in February to 24,021 units.

Hyundai’s passenger vehicle sales fell 14% to 53,159 units, and exports declined 10%. Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra, however, recorded double-digit growth in passenger car dispatches in February, with sales up by 47% and 80%, respectively, led by high demand for SUVs.

IEA will deploy emergency oil stocks to ease soaring prices

The U.S. and other major economies have agreed on a coordinated release of oil stockpiles after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed crude above $100 a barrel.

The International Energy Agency, which represents key industrialized consumers, will deploy 60 million barrels from stockpiles around the world. Half of that amount will come from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with the rest from IEA members in Europe and Asia.

The IEA said it will continue to monitor energy markets and could recommend additional stockpile releases if need.

A release of 60 million barrels, while significant, only equates to less than two-thirds of global daily consumption of around 100 million barrels. The international release late last year included 50 million barrels from the U.S. but only relatively small contributions from other countries. While oil prices fell in the run-up, they actually rose when it was officially announced in late November.

Starting trouble at Air India as Ayci turns down CEO role

Tata Sons Ltd is faced with a fresh crisis at Air India Ltd, with the airline’s newly appointed chief executive turning down the role before even taking charge.

Ilker Ayci, former chairman of Turkish Airlines, cited political controversies, in a statement, for declining the assignment. His decision leaves the new owner of Air India with the fresh challenge of hunting for a new leader of the recently privatized airline.

Known as a turnaround expert, Ayci’s appointment, announced soon after Tata Sons took over Air India in January, sparked hopes of fast recovery of the airline grappling with an ageing aircraft fleet, mounting debt and several legacy issues arising from its workers’ unions.

But just a fortnight into his appointment, Ayci declined to take up the role on Tuesday. His decision may hurt Tata’s ambition to quickly turn around Air India’s fortunes and help the company regain the market share it ceded to rivals.

Huawei closely watching India’s regulatory changes: Jay Chen

Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei is closely watching the regulatory changes in India, where it continues to remain one of the companies that are not under the trusted sources segment of telecom providers approved by the government, even as it invests in building the talent ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific markets.

Brent oil breaks $110 a barrel, WTI up 5% on Ukraine conflict: agencies 

Brent crude broke above $110 a barrel on Wednesday and WTI surged more than 5% as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continued to fan fears over supplies of the crucial commodity from the resource-rich region.

Brent climbed 4.88% to $110.09, while WTI was up 5.06% at 108.64. Both are at more than seven-year highs.

Vladimir Putin's incursion into the neighbouring country has seen world powers impose strict, far-reaching sanctions on Moscow in retaliation, fuelling worries that exports from Russia will be cut off.

Russia is the world's third-biggest oil producer.

The conflict in eastern Europe came as prices were already soaring owing to tight supplies and a strong recovery in demand around the world as economies reopen from pandemic-induced lockdowns.

SGX Nifty futures down nearly 1% 

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were at 16,545.50, down 162.50 points, 0.97%, in early deals on Wednesday, signalling at a lower start for Indian benchmarks.

Most Asian stocks fall; oil surge, Russia sanctions weigh

Most Asian stocks fell Wednesday as the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia stoke the cost of commodities including oil, hurting the outlook for economic growth and supporting demand for sovereign bonds.

Shares retreated in Japan, China and Hong Kong, where a four-day lockdown looms amid a Covid testing blitz. U.S. contracts steadied after Wall Street shares retreated on the prospect of slowing growth alongside high inflation.

Oil scaled $107 a barrel as steps to tap reserves failed to ease worries over supplies as penalties mount on resource-rich Russia for invading its neighbor. An index of commodities jumped the most since 2009 to a record. The conflict is a threat to flows of energy, crops and metals, which were already tight.

Japan’s Topix index slid 1.6%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi index was flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.6%, and China’s Shanghai Composite index decreased 0.6%.

Overnight on the Wall Street, stocks fell as soaring oil prices raised more concerns about how Russia's escalating war on Ukraine may impact the global economy. Nervous investors again poured money into ultra-safe U.S. government bonds.

The S&P 500 index fell 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8% and the Nasdaq composite slid 1.6%. The declines add to the market's losses after a two-month skid to start the year.

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