It was indeed a volatile trading session today for the Indian share markets.

After opening the day on a negative note, Indian markets soon recovered losses helped by gains in heavyweight IT stocks. However, benchmark indices soon took a sharp 'U-turn' and witnessed a selloff.

Benchmark indices crashed on the back of mixed global cues as investors remain watchful on the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and its impact on domestic markets while also awaiting inflation data due later in the day.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 898 points (down 1.5%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 259 points (down 1.5%).

Tech Mahindra and Apollo Hospital were among the top gainers today.

SBI and M&M, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,179, down by 259 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets settled on a weak note. The BSE Midcap fell 1.8% while the BSE SmallCap index ended 2% lower.

All sectoral indices ended in red with stocks in the telecom sector, the auto sector, and the banking sector witnessing most of the selling.

Shares of Mahanagar Gas hit their 52-week high today.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using the stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...

Asian share markets ended mixed. The Hang Seng ended higher by 1.9% while the Shanghai Composite index rose by 1.2%. The Nikkei ended 1.1% lower.

US stock futures are trading on a mixed note. Dow futures are trading lower by 0.2% while Nasdaq futures are trading higher by 0.5%.

The rupee is trading at 82.2 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 1.1% at Rs 56,778 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 1.5% at Rs 63,860 per kg.

Here are five reasons why Indian share markets plunged today.

#1 SVB Crisis

The fallout of startup lender Silicon Valley Bank is weighing on the market sentiments. Traders across the globe are sensing the 'Deja-Vu' of 2008, when investment bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, leading to a global recession.

However, US authorities have moved in to shore up deposits and stem any wider fallout from the sudden collapse of the tech startup lender.

#2 Uncertainty ahead of upcoming inflation data

India will announce its retail inflation numbers for February later today, after market hours, whereas WPI inflation numbers are slated for Tuesday, 14 March 2023.

US inflation numbers are also scheduled for Tuesday, 14 March 2023 for the cues for the interest rate hike path ahead of its FOMC meeting next week.

#3 Weak global cues

US equity markets fell sharply on Friday last week, as investors feared higher interest rates, on the back of strong macroeconomic data.

Following this resilient report, key indices Dow Jones, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite declined by over 4% each.

Asia-Pacific markets, too, followed similar footsteps and edged lower in today's trade.

#4 Selloff in banking stocks

Following a global rout in shares of banking companies, the Nifty Bank index lost 2.3% today. IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser in the pack and ended over 7% lower. PSU bank stocks lost up to 5%.

#5 FIIs slowdown

Global institutional investors have been pulling out money from the Indian markets. On Friday, FPIs sold domestic shares worth 20.6 bn (billion).

Speaking of stock markets, with interest rates rising up, both in India and globally, a good number of stocks have seen their PE multiples compress.

This was long due in some cases, such as in the case of loss-making new-age companies.
 

Why Nazara Technologies' share price is falling

In news from the IT sector, shares of Nazara Technologies plunged 7%, hitting a record low today.

The share crashed in the pre-open following news of two subsidiaries of the Indian gaming platform holding cash balances at the crisis-hit Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US.

The balances held at SVB by Kiddopia Inc. and Mediawrkz Inc cumulatively account for US$ 7.75 million (around Rs 640 million).

SVB is now under the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Kiddopia Inc is a subsidiary of Paper Boat Apps (owned 51.5% by Nazara), while Mediawrkz Inc is a subsidiary of Datawrkz Business Solutions (owned 33% by Nazara).

FDIC has stated that it would issue an advance dividend to depositors within the next week, with future payments coming as asset sales took place.

The Silicon Valley Bank collapse has been termed the biggest retail banking failure since the global financial crisis in 2008.

SVB's customers include some of the biggest technology startups. The sudden collapse resulted in a loss of nearly US$ 2 bn to SVB.

This is not the first time that shares of Nazara are reeling under pressure... shares of the company took a heavy beating in September 2022.
 

LIC's exposure in Adani group stocks dips

Moving on to news from the insurance sector, LIC's debt exposure in Adani group companies fell marginally to Rs 61.83 bn as of 5 March 2023 from Rs 63.5 bn as of 31 December 2022, Parliament was informed on Monday.

LIC has a debt exposure of Rs 53.8 bn in Adani Ports and SEZ as of 5 March 2023. The exposure in Adani Power (Mundra) was Rs 2.6 bn, Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd - Phase I ( Rs 81.6 m), Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd - Phase III ( Rs 2.5 bn), Raigarh Energy Generation Ltd ( Rs 450 m) and Raipur Energen ( Rs 1.5 m).

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that five public sector general insurance companies have informed that they do not have loan/credit exposure to the Adani Group of Companies.

Since listing, shares of LIC have been following one trend - going down. 
 

Alembic Pharma's Karakhadi facility completes USFDA inspection

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, Alembic Pharma, on Monday, completed the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection for its Derma facility at Karakhadi without any observations.

The inspection was conducted by the US drug regulator between 6 March 2023 to 10 March 2023.

This was a pre-approval inspection for ANDAs filed with the USFDA.

The company manufactures and markets generic pharmaceutical products across the globe.

As of date, Alembic Pharma has a total of 183 ANDA approvals, which includes 160 final approvals and 23 tentative ones.

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