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Sustain selling drags indices near day’s lows
Mar-12-2025

A sustained selling dragged Indian equity indices to near their intraday low points in late morning session, ahead of retail inflation data for February and industrial production figures for January due later in the day. IT stocks witnessed a sharp fall, as a private report cited shifting global macroeconomic environment and technological changes as increasing risks for the tech sector, potentially putting valuations and revenue growth at risk. According to the report, the revenue growth and valuations in the IT sector face strong downside risks amid global uncertainties, prompting it to cut target prices for domestic IT majors. 

The street overlooked Ministry of Finance’s latest report showing that the overall credit disbursement to priority sectors including Agriculture, MSME and Social Infrastructure by banks surged 85.66% to Rs 42,73,161 crore in 2024 as compared to Rs 23,01,567 crore in 2019.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, even after confidence among Japanese large companies declined in the first quarter. The survey results from the Ministry of Finance showed that the business survey index for all industries fell to 2.0 in the first quarter from 5.7 in the preceding period. Sentiment among manufacturers declined more sharply with the index falling to -2.4 from 6.3 in the fourth quarter. At the same time, the index for non-manufacturing dropped to 4.1 from 5.4 in the prior quarter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 73663.26, down by 439.06 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 73627.62 and 74392.15. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined by 1.62%, while Small cap index was down by 0.83%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.16% and FMCG up by 0.01%, while IT down by 3.78%, TECK down by 3.39%, Telecom down by 2.93%, Realty down by 1.88% and Metal down by 1.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.13%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.24%, Tata Motors up by 2.20%, HDFC Bank up by 1.38% and ITC up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 5.27%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.97%, HCL Tech. down by 3.72%, Zomato down by 2.60% and Axis Bank down by 2.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that India’s data centre (DC) operational capacity is likely to increase to 2,000-2,100 MW by March 2027 from around 1,150 MW as of December 2024, involving investment of Rs 40,000-45,000 crore in FY2026- FY2027, supported by internet/data usage and data localisation initiatives. Further, it said established DC players and new players, which have entered this sector in the last 3-4 years, have a development pipeline of 3.0-3.5 GW to be delivered in the next 7-10 years, involving significant investments of Rs 2.0-2.3 lakh crore.

The report said as part of the Union Budget 2025-26, the government’s proposal to set up a centre of excellence in AI for education, the BharatNet project to provide broadband connectivity to all gram panchayats and start Deeptech Fund of Funds to provide access to skilled professionals in AI, cyber security and cloud computing, compliments the strong growth prospects for the DC sector in India. It said the presence of landing stations, fibre connectivity, uninterrupted power supply, proximity to tenant’s headquarters and high score on disaster proofing are some of the key parameters a DC operator would look for in a location. Mumbai and Chennai have maximum landing stations, with the former being the preferred location for a DC operator. Around 75% of the upcoming capacities in the next three years are concentrated in Mumbai, Chennai and the Hyderabad markets. 

ICRA estimates the revenues for top 5 DC players (which account for around 75-80% of overall industry revenues and operational capacities in India) to expand by a sharp 18-20% YoY in FY2026, supported by an increase in rack capacity utilisation and the ramp-up of new DCs. The operating margins are expected to remain healthy in the range of 40-41% in FY2026. The return on capital employed (RoCE) is likely to be modest as the DC players are in continuous capex mode and new DCs will ramp up over a period of time. As competition is heating up with the entry of new players, pricing flexibility is getting increasingly constrained, which will exert a drag on the profitability and return metrics for the incremental business. However, it anticipates the leverage and coverage metrics of the players to remain comfortable in the medium term. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22350.70, down by 147.20 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 22340.70 and 22577.40. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.16%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.20%, Tata Motors up by 2.14%, HDFC Bank up by 1.38% and Sun Pharma up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 5.30%, Wipro down by 5.27%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.00%, HCL Tech. down by 3.77% and Axis Bank down by 2.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite gained 101.6 points or 1.53% to 6,647.45, Shanghai Composite strengthened 5.04 points or 0.15% to 3,384.87, Straits Times rose 18.17 points or 0.47% to 3,844.00, KOSPI increased 37.61 points or 1.48% to 2,575.21, Nikkei 225 surged 24.8 points or 0.07% to 36,817.91 and Taiwan Weighted added 207.27 points or 0.93% to 22,278.36, while Hang Seng declined 55.71 points or 0.23% to 23,726.43.
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