Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Snap Five-Day Losing Streak

Foreign investors in Indian equities remained net sellers for the sixth straight day on Thursday.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth Rs 282.06 crore during the day, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the fifth straight day and picked up stocks worth Rs 2,051.45 crore.

Foreign institutions invested in Indian equities have remained net sellers so far in 2023, pulling out Rs 22,818 crore by March 16, 2023, according to the National Securities Depository Ltd.

The local currency weakened by 14 paise to close 82.74 against the greenback on Thursday. It closed at 82.60 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks swung between gains and losses in a choppy trading session amid high volatility through Thursday.

The headline indices snapped five days of losses, ending marginally higher in trade.

European stocks staged a partial rebound on Thursday as banking shares rallied. Contracts for the S&P 500 pared an early advance to trade little changed after the index fell 0.7% Wednesday.

Credit Suisse provided a measure of calm for jittery investors as it arranged to borrow as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from a Swiss National Bank liquidity facility and will offer to buy back up to three billion francs of dollar- and euro-denominated debt.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed up 79 points or 0.14% at 57,634.84 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 14 points or 0.08% higher at 16,985.60.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., State Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd. were adding positively to the index.

Whereas, Infosys Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. were negatively contributing to the index NSE Nifty 50.

The broader market indices traded lower; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.05% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was lower by 0.69%.

Seven out of the 19 sectors compiled by BSE declined, while 12 advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1,395 stocks rose 2,129 declined, and 116 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Credit Suisse provided a measure of calm for jittery investors as it arranged to borrow as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from a Swiss National Bank liquidity facility and will offer to buy back up to three billion francs of dollar- and euro-denominated debt.

Source: Bloomberg

• Sonata Software completes acquisition of Quant Systems, a Texas based I.T. services corporation.

• The acquisition was in accordance with a stock purchase agreement.

• An upfront payment of $65 million (Rs 537.3 crore) was made with pay-outs up to a maximum of $95 million (Rs 785.3 crore) payable over 2 years.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Asian Paints Ltd. advanced 2.98% to Rs 2,827.4 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.39%.

Scrip advanced as much as 4.40% intraday, rising the most in over 10 months since May 10, 2022.

Total traded volume stood at two times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 58.1.

Out of the 38 analysts tracking the company, 16 maintain a 'buy' rating, nine recommend a 'hold' and 13 suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 5.6% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg

• The board of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC approved interim dividend of Rs 5 for each share for the current fiscal.

• The record date for the dividend has been fixed at March 24, 2023.

• The interim dividend shall be paid to the eligible shareholders on or before April. 10 2023.

Source: Exchange filing

In an move to resolve insolvency proceedings against it, Zee has agreed to repay $10 million (Rs 8.67 crore), as per Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reports that the debt could be settled by Friday, as Zee Entertainment is poised to move ahead with the merger with Sony Group.

IndusInd Bank sought insolvency proceedings against Zee in February, however NCLAT halted the insolvency proceedings against the company.

However, Karan Taurani of Elara Capital said that "As per our interaction with the management, there is no official confirmation on above for now; they will inform the exchanges as and when the settlement happens as they have been in talks with IndusInd and IDBI bank- both are cases with NCLT."

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. advanced 8.38% to Rs 204.9 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.13%.

Scrip advanced as much as 8.78% intraday, rising the most in nearly a year since March 25, 2022.

Total traded volume stood at two times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 51.4.

Out of the 24 analysts tracking the company, 21 maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold' and one suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 36.8% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat amid volatility through midday in trade on Thursday.

The headline indices closed lower for fifth straight session, ending at their lowest levels since October 2022 on Wednesday.

European and U.S. equity futures advanced, Asian stocks pared losses and treasuries fell on Thursday after Credit Suisse Group AG said it would borrow money from Switzerland’s central bank and seek to repurchase debt.

Credit Suisse provided a measure of calm for jittery investors as it arranged to borrow as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from a Swiss National Bank liquidity facility and will offer to buy back up to three billion francs of dollar- and euro-denominated debt.

As of 1:54 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex was down 81 points or 0.14% at 57,457.10 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 19 points or 0.11% lower at 16,954.70.

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Titan Co., Asian Paints Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd. were negatively contributing to the index NSE Nifty 50.

Whereas, Infosys Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., JSW Steel Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd. were adding positively to the index.

Adani Group stocks were mixed in trade as Adani Green Energy Ltd., Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd., Adani Transmission Ltd., Ambuja Cements Ltd., ACC Ltd., and Adani Wilmar Ltd. advanced, while the other stocks declined.

The broader market indices traded lower; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.10% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was lower by 0.63%.

Nine out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined declined, while 11 advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 1,215 stocks rose 2,206 declined, and 120 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Shares of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance was trading higher at 5.43% to Rs 404.75 apiece in trade on Thursday.

• N. S. Kannan, MD & CEO at ICICI Prudential Life, will retire from the services of the company on the completion of his on June 18, 2023.

• Anup Bagchi, presently Executive Director at ICICI Bank and Non-executive Director of the company will succeed N.S. Kannan as the MD & CEO for a period of five consecutive years with effect from June 19, 2023.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Sumitomo Wiring Systems sold 3.4% stake in Samvardhana Motherson International via a bulk deal to fund its partial debt repayment.

• The deal will will reduce Sumitomo Wiring Systems holding to 14.32% in Samvardhana Motherson International.

• This is the first stake dilution by the promoter Sumitomo Wiring Systems in Samvardhana in over 40 years.

Source: Exchange Filing

Most of the Adani Group company stocks advanced in trade on Thursday. Adani Power Ltd., Adani Wilmar Ltd., Adani Total Gas Ltd., and NDTV Ltd. declined in trade.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of metal companies declined in trade on Thursday and the headline index NSE Nifty 50 was lower by 0.16% in trade.

The NSE Metal Index was down 2.79% in trade. Out of the 15 constituents compiled 13 declined while Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd. advanced in trade.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., National Aluminium Co., Welspun Corp Ltd., SAIL Ltd., Hindustan Copper Ltd., and Vedanta Ltd. declined over 2% in trade.

Source: NSE

Shares of Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd. declined 10.87% to Rs 68.45 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.14%.

Sumitomo Wiring Systems announced that it will sell approximately 3.4% stake or 23 crore shares of Samvardhana Motherson International via JPMorgan, according to Bloomberg. The size of the deal will be around $195 million (approximately Rs 1,613 crore) at a floor price of Rs 69.90 apiece.

Scrip declined as much as 14% intraday, falling the most in nearly three years since April 21, 2020.

Total traded volume stood at 105.2 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 26.6, which implies that the stock is oversold.

Out of the 20 analysts tracking the company, 15 maintain a 'buy' rating, three recommend a 'hold' and two suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 39.9% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

• DLF witnessed record breaking pre-formal launch sales of over Rs 8,000 crore for its luxury high-rise residences in just three days.

• The Arbour is located at DLF Sixtythree on Golf Course Extension in Sector 63, Gurugram.

• Prices in Arbour start from Rs 7 crore, per unit.

Source: Exchange Filing

• If approved, the record date for the dividend will be March 29, 2023.

• Trading window for designated persons and their immediate relative will remain closed from March 16 to March 23.

Source: Exchange filing

Avendus Capital Pvt. upgrades public sector oil marketing companies from "Add" to "Buy," on the back of benign crude prices.

The brokerage prefers BPCL Ltd., Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., and HPCL Ltd. in the same order. OMCs typically outperform during stable or low oil prices, says Avendus Capital. It believes that crude could be range bound between $75-$85/bbl.

Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. advanced 3.06% to Rs 237.4 apiece, as of 9:59 a.m., in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.52%. The scrip rose 4.54% the most in nine weeks since Jan. 11, 2023.

Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. advanced 3.15% to Rs 340.7 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.52%. The scrip rose 4.89% the most in over three months since Nov. 28, 2022.

Shares of Indian Oil Corp Ltd. advanced 0.64% to Rs 79.1 apiece, as of 9:59 a.m., in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.52%. The scrip rose 1.97% the most in eight trading sessions since March 6, 2023.

• Range bound crude prices help OMCs to have a relatively stable marketing margin, low working capital, better gross refining margin on lower fuel utility and loss.

• As per the brokerage, the near term refining margins will benefit from lower sourcing cost, higher Russia mix and lower Middle East premiums.

• Two out of the three global agencies expect demand to outpace supply growth. Mixed signals on global oil trends; China reopening and aviation turbine fuel will drive the demand growth.

• Higher global crude inventory, excess China crude, headroom in Russia to produce more and OPEC+ production; all favour slower oil prices, which could be further propelled by recession .

The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 7.33% on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

Sixteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE declined with S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Commodities, S&P BSE Telecommunication declining the most, while four advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the sellers. About 742 stocks rose, 1,842 declined, and 2,684 remained unchanged on the BSE.

All Adani Group company stocks ended lower in trade, with Adani Enterprises Ltd. declining 7.27%.

Source: BSE

• Hindalco Industries Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., JSE Steel Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., and ONGC Ltd., were the top losers.

• Whereas, BPCL Ltd., Titan Co., SBI Life Insurance Co., Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., and Bajaj Auto Ltd., were the top gainers in the gauge.

Source: NSE

Indian equity benchmarks declined at open following mixed global cues on Thursday.

The headline indices closed lower for fifth straight session, ending at their lowest levels since October 2022 on Wednesday.

European and U.S. equity futures advanced, Asian stocks pared losses and treasuries fell on Thursday after Credit Suisse Group AG said it would borrow money from Switzerland’s central bank and seek to repurchase debt.

Contracts for the Euro Stoxx 50 index climbed more than 2% as the news from Credit Suisse provided a measure of calm for jittery investors. It has arranged to borrow as much as 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from a Swiss National Bank liquidity facility and will offer to buy back up to three billion francs of dollar- and euro-denominated debt.

As of 9:23 a.m., the S&P BSE Sensex was down 21 points or 0.04% at 57,534.96 while the NSE Nifty 50 was 22 points or 0.13% lower at 16,950.65.

The local currency weakened by 18 paise to open 82.78 against the greenback on Thursday. It closed at 82.60 on Wednesday.

Source: Cogencis

• Orient Paper and Industries Ltd.'s board approved a capital expenditure aggregating to Rs 475-crore towards modernization and debottlenecking of the company's manufacturing facility at Amlai, Madhya Pradesh.

• The project will improve operating capacity of the paper mill to 400 ton per day. It is likely to be completed in 24 months.

Source: Exchange filing

• U.S. Dollar Index at 104.6

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.49%

• Brent crude up 0.52% to $74.07 per barrel

• Nymex crude at $67.95 per barrel

• SGX Nifty up 0.20% at 17,008.5 as of 8:18 a.m.

• Bitcoin up 0.41% to $24,490.4

• Jindal Steel & Power: Promoter group Siddeshwari Tradex revoked a pledge of 22 lakh shares on March 14.

• Mahindra CIE Automotive: Promoter Mahindra & Mahindra sold 2.3 crore shares on March 13.

• Marico: Promoter group Preeti Gautam Shah sold 6.5 lakh shares between March 13-14.

• Zydus Wellness: Promoter Zydus Family Trust bought 10,907 shares on March 14.

• Maharashtra Seamless: Promoter group Raghav Jindal bought 6,789 shares on March 14.

• Meghmani Finechem: Promoter Maulik Jayantibhai Patel bought 5,000 shares on March 14.

• Mukand: Promoter group Baroda Industries bought 57,856 shares between March 13-14.

• Sunteck Realty: Promoter Matrabhav Trust, through its trustees Kamal Khetan and Manisha Khetan, bought 20,225 shares on March 13.

• Choice International: Promoter group Patodia Properties bought 3.9 lakh shares on March 14.

• Hi-Tech Pipes: Promoter group Ajay Kumar & Sons HUF sold 60,000 shares on March 13.

• Ex-Date Interim Dividend: SBI Life Insurance Co.

• Record Date Interim Dividend: SBI Life Insurance Co.

• Move Out Of Short-Term ASM Framework: Macrotech Developers, Imagicaaworld Entertainment

• BCL Industries: Forest Vincom bought 2.1 lakh shares (0.87%), Silvertoss Shoppers sold 2.11 lakh shares (0.87%) at Rs 425.25 apiece.

• Hikal: Ritu Arun Nathani bought 6.14 lakh shares (0.5%), Cybage Software sold 6.14 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 297 apiece.

• Coforge: The company clarified that its exposure to revenues from the U.S. regional banking clients is very limited. The company does not see current market events in any manner impacting its performance.

• Samvardhana Motherson International: Sumitomo Wiring Systems to sell approximately 3.4% of its stake, or 23 crore shares, via JPMorgan, according to Bloomberg. The size of the deal will be around $195 million (approximately Rs 1,613 crore) at a floor price of Rs 69.90 apiece.

• Patanjali Foods: The stock exchanges, the BSE and the National Stock Exchange, have frozen the shareholding of promoters and promoter groups in the company as it could not increase public shareholding to the required 25% within the stipulated deadline. The action, which affected 29.26 crore shares, will remain in effect until the mandated public shareholding levels are met.

• Ceat: Ceat Specialty, a division of Ceat Tires, entered into an agreement with CNH Industrial to supply agricultural radial tires for their machines being produced in Brazil and Argentina, the company said in a statement.

• ITC: ITC Infotech India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, incorporated a subsidiary in Germany under the name ITC Infotech GmbH.

• BLS International: BLS E-Services, a subsidiary of the company, increased its stake in Zero Mass to 90.42%.

• Federal Bank: The board of the bank will meet on March 18 to consider raising Rs 1,000 crore via tier-II bonds on a private placement basis.

• JSW Energy: The Finance Committee of the company approved the allotment of 25,000 non-convertible debentures of Rs 1 lakh each to raise Rs 250 crore.

• Future Retail: Kishor Biyani withdrew his resignation from the position of executive chairman and director of the embattled firm after the resolution professional objected to the contents of his resignation letter and requested him to recall the same.

• Godawari Power & Ispat: The board of directors will meet on March 18 to consider a share buyback programme.

• Sarda Energy & Minerals: The company received consent to operate from the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board for the expansion of its existing rolling mill from 1.8 lakh tonnes per annum to 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum.

Asian markets headed for declines after U.S. stocks fell and government bonds and the dollar rallied. A fresh turmoil at Credit Suisse Group AG roiled markets days after the collapse of three American lenders. This casts doubt on whether the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates next week.

U.S. futures showed fledgling signs of stability after the S&P 500 fell 0.7% on Wednesday. The U.S. benchmark pared earlier losses after Switzerland’s central bank said Credit Suisse would receive a liquidity backstop if needed.

The KBW Bank Index, one of the broadest measures of the US banking system, fell 3.6%, undoing a rally from the prior session.

Brent crude slipped below $75 a barrel for the first time since December 2021, intraday. Gold prices surged as investors moved away from riskier assets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined to 3.49%, while Bitcoin was trading around the $24,000 level.

At 8:18 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of India's benchmark Nifty 50, was up 0.20% at 17,008.5.

The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, fell for the fifth day in a row and ended at their lowest levels since October, led by declines in financial and banking stocks.

The Indian rupee maintained its downward trajectory against the U.S. dollar for the fourth day in a row amid a surge in demand for the greenback and continued FPI outflow.

Foreign outflow from Indian equities continued for the fifth day in a row on Wednesday as overseas investors remained net sellers. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,271.3 crore during the day, while the domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the fifth straight day and mopped up stocks worth Rs 1,823.9 crore.