Indian Shares Drop as Zee Entertainment Plunges and HDFC Bank Leads Decline

Indian shares surrendered early gains to drop on Tuesday, as HDFC Bank led a decline in financials, while Zee Entertainment plunged nearly 30% after its merger with Sony’s India unit collapsed.

Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Tuesday, led by sharp gains in Hong Kong and Shanghai after a report said Beijing plans to put about 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion) into support to stabilize ailing Chinese markets. The unconfirmed report by Bloomberg cited unnamed sources. It said China plans to tap offshore funds held by Chinese state-owned enterprises and also local funds.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.2% to 15,434.69 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.7%, at 2,776.06. Shanghai had retreated on selling by investors disappointed by China’s decision to keep the loan prime rate unchanged despite concern over the outlook for the economy, which is forecast to slow further after a post-pandemic recovery faded more quickly than expected. Shanghai’s benchmark fell 2.7% on Monday. It has been trading at its lowest levels since 2019. The Hang Seng was down about 12% so far this year as of Monday’s close.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gave up earlier gains to edge 0.1% lower, closing at 36,517.57. It has been nudging closer to its all-time record of 38,957.44 set in December 1989, before the implosion of a financial bubble that ushered in an era of slowing growth. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,478.61 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,514.90.

Elsewhere, the deepening pessimism about Chinese equities is in stark contrast to the US, where investors are weighing strong economic signals and prospects for corporate earnings. Wall Street shares are shaking off a rocky start to the year on bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates and the artificial-intelligence boom will keep fueling profit growth.

The benchmark S&P 500 scaled a fresh record-high after closing at a record on Friday for the first time in two years, confirming it was in a bull market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.01 points, or 0.36%, to 38,001.81, the S&P 500 gained 10.62 points, or 0.22%, to 4,850.43 and the Nasdaq composite gained 49.32 points, or 0.32%, to 15,360.29.

MSCI’s global equities index rose on Monday as Wall Street fed on momentum that took it to a new record high last week, while the U.S. dollar index edged up slightly.