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Bourses add more losses in early afternoon session
Feb-17-2025

Local equities extended their losses in early afternoon session as traders preferred to sell their riskier assets.  Domestic investors remained worried about U.S. President Donald Trump tariffs plans. Meanwhile, traders overlooked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the announcement to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement between India and the US has boosted business confidence in both countries, as it can help further strengthen economic ties by leveraging their competitive strengths. During the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, India and the US announced to more than double the two-way commerce to $500 billion by 2030 and negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025.  On the global front, all Asian markets are trading higher amid easing concerns over a global trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to delay the implementation of new reciprocal tariff plans. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 75534.24, down by 404.97 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 75294.76 and 75895.26. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.01%, while Small cap index was down by 1.94%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Healthcare up by 0.24%, while Industrials down by 1.81%, Telecom down by 1.64%, Capital Goods down by 1.59%, Realty down by 1.59% and Auto was down by 1.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.22%, Sun Pharma up by 1.71%, Indusind Bank up by 1.22%, Power Grid up by 0.84% and Tata Motors up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.15%, ICICI Bank down by 1.69%, Axis Bank down by 1.58%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.29% and Tata Steel down by 0.93% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that going forward the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) should capture national interest in relation to regulatory powers and serve as a guide to arbitrators in resolving disputes. She said issues related to BIT are unique to the sovereign and hence BIT should be negotiated stand-alone rather than as a part of FTA agreement. 

Stating that arbitrators have often ignored the judicial decisions of the host country, the minister said an investment treaty must not only provide better regulatory powers to the nations but must also serve as guidance to arbitrators to restore faith in arbitration. Presently, India is negotiating this treaty with the UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the European Union (EU). 

The government in Budget 2025-26 had announced revamping the current model BIT to make it more investor-friendly and attract foreign players. The Budget had said to encourage sustained foreign investment and in the spirit of 'first develop India', the current model BIT will be revamped and made more investor-friendly. The announcement assumes significance as only a few countries have accepted the existing model tax treaty, and most of the developed nations have expressed their reservations on the tax with regard to provisions like resolution of disputes. Sitharaman said ‘BIT and its ramifications are very important for the sovereignty of the country, therefore it's important for us to have a stand-alone BIT with specialists who deal with taxation laws, as well as policy experts.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 22812.45, down by 116.80 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 22725.45 and 22926.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 1.97%, Indusind Bank up by 1.50%, Cipla up by 1.12%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.10% and Grasim Industries up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.07%, Bharat Electronics down by 2.10%, Axis Bank down by 1.72%, Wipro down by 1.64% and ICICI Bank down by 1.56% were the top losers.

All Asian markets are trading higher; Taiwan Weighted added 352.72 points or 1.5% to 23,505.33, Jakarta Composite gained 160.75 points or 2.36% to 6,799.21, Hang Seng advanced 75.71 points or 0.33% to 22,696.04, Nikkei 225 surged 24.82 points or 0.06% to 39,174.25, KOSPI increased 19.37 points or 0.74% to 2,610.42, Straits Times rose 18.1 points or 0.46% to 3,895.60 and Shanghai Composite was up by 7.55 points or 0.23% to 3,354.27.
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