Stock Market Today: Sensex Gains Most In A Week; Nifty Ends Above 17,100

The yield on the 10-year bond closed flat at 7.33% on Tuesday.

Foreign investors in Indian equities remained net sellers for ninth day in a row.

Foreign portfolio investors sold equities worth Rs 1,454.63 crore on Tuesday, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the ninth consecutive day as they bought equities worth Rs 1,946.06 crore.

Foreign institutions invested in Indian equities have remained net sellers so far in 2023, selling equities Rs 50,147.64 crore.

The local currency weakened by 3 paise to close at 82.67 against the greenback on Tuesday. It closed at 82.64 on Monday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks held on to gains through Tuesday and advanced after midday to end higher in trade.

Asian markets advanced as immediate concerns over the strength of the global financial system dissipated. Futures for the S&P 500 rose slightly after reports that the U.S. officials are studying ways to temporarily guarantee all bank deposits if the current financial turbulence spreads.

However, the mood remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's meeting, as most investors have increased bets on a quarter-point hike.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index closed up 446 points or 0.77% at 58,074.68 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 119 points or 0.70% higher at 17,107.50.

HDFC Life Insurance Co., Reliance Industries Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., and Titan Co. were the top gainers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Whereas, Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., Britannia Industries Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., and TCS Ltd., were the top losers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Most Adani Group company stocks advanced in trade, except Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd., Adani Transmission Ltd., NDTV Ltd.. On the other hand, Adani Enterprises Ltd. rose 1%, also Adani Green Energy Ltd. and Adani Power Ltd. rose 5%, respectively.

The broader market indices were trading higher; S&P BSE MidCap was up 0.66% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.50%.

Fifteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, whereas five sectors declined in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,001 stocks rose 1,513 declined, and 134 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. declined 0.92% to Rs 29 apiece in trade on Tuesday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.7%.

Scrip declined as much as 1.13% intraday. The stock has been decling for nine straight sessions, correcting by nearly 7.64%.

The relative strength index was at 27, implying that the stock maybe oversold.

Out of the 49 analysts tracking the company, 22 maintain a 'buy' rating, 15 recommend a 'hold' and 12 suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 11.9% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Max Healthcare Ltd. declined 0.68% to Rs 465 apiece in trade on Tuesday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.49%.

About 10.3 lakh shares changed hands in a bunched trade.

Scrip declined as much as 1.11% intraday, the most since March 17, 2022. Total traded volume stood at 3.6 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 66.1.

Ten analysts tracking the company maintains a 'buy' rating on the stock. The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 9.6% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Stocks that hit 52-week low, intraday.

Indian equity benchmarks held on to gains through midday after opening higher in trade on Tuesday.

European equity futures and Asian share markets advanced as immediate concerns over the strength of the global financial system dissipated. Futures for the S&P 500 were slightly higher following a jump of 0.9% on Monday.

However, the mood remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's meeting, as most investors have increased bets on a quarter-point hike.

As of 12:41 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex Index was up 219 points or 0.38% at 57,8447.58 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 61 points or 0.36% higher at 17,049.35.

HDFC Life Insurance Co., Reliance Industries Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., and Titan Co. were the top gainers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Whereas, Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., ITC Ltd., and Divi's Laboratories Ltd., were the top losers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Most Adani Group company stocks advanced in trade, except Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. On the other hand, Adani Enterprises Ltd. rose 0.9%. and Adani Green Energy was up 5%.

The broader market indices were trading higher; S&P BSE MidCap was up 0.29% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.41%.

Fifteen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, whereas five sectors declined in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 1,934 stocks rose 1,376 declined, and 152 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of Mahanagar Gas Ltd. and Indraprastha Gas Ltd. gained as CLSA reiterated and maintained 'buy' rating on the stocks, respectively, citing return of pricing power.

A 24% fall in the gas price from April 1, comfort around the new allocation policy for deep-water gas and cooling-off LNG prices should ensure robust margins and bring down input costs for retail city gas players such as IGL and MGL. This shall work in favor, even as they keep pricing at attractive discounts to competing fuels, according to a note by CLSA.

CLSA sees this discount as necessary to incentivise CNG adoption and drive volume growth.

This should bring back the discount of CNG to diesel to attractive levels of 25%-34% even if IGL and MGL choose to keep margins at near record annual levels, as per CSLA's estimates.

"The return of pricing power will bring back earnings stability and growth similar to FY16-20 and once again make Indraprastha Gas Ltd. and Mahanagar Gas Ltd., attractive", the note stated.

Source: CLSA

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd. gained after CLSA reiterates the firm to 'buy', as it expects the company to start offering its portable 5G device (Jio Airfiber) to ramp-up the wireless broadband additions

The scrip was trading at 2.74% higher at Rs 2,262 on Tuesday as of 10:33 am, compared with a 0.50% gain in the benchmark Nifty 50.

The total traded quantity so far in the day stood at 1.3 times the 30-day average. The relative strength index was 39.40.

Of the 35 analysts tracking the company, 32 maintain a 'buy', two recommend a 'hold', and three suggests 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a potential upside of 26.4%.

Source: CLSA, Bloomberg

Shares of Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd. advanced the most in nearly six months after winning 1,200 MW Solar PV project for Rs 2,100 crore.

The company emerged as the successful bidder for a package consisting of four blocks of 300 MW each in the proposed 1,200 MW Solar PV project of NTPC Renewable Energy at Khavda RE Power Park, Rann of Kutch.

The total bid value, including operation and maintenance for three years, will be Rs 2,100 crore.

Shares of Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd. advanced 8.18% to Rs 323.9 apiece in trade on Tuesday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.47%.

Scrip rose as much as 9.40% intraday, the most in nearly six months since Sept. 23, 2022. Total traded volume stood at 11 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 61.

One analysts tracking the company maintains a 'buy' rating on the stock. The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 40.2% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

• L&T Energy Hydrocarbon, a unit of Larsen & Toubro has secured multiple offshore packages from an overseas client.

• The work comprises engineering, procurement, construction & installation of offshore structures and upgradation of existing facilities.

• The worth of the 'major' project falls between Rs 5,000 to 7,000-crore.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Blue Star secured Railway Electrification orders totalling upto Rs 575 crores, successfully expanding its presence in the Railways segment.

• The orders are secured from customers such as West Central Railway (Kota Division), Central Organization for Railway Electrification (CORE), and Metro Railway, Kolkata.

• These orders include the work of design, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of traction substation, sectioning posts and sub-sectioning posts.

• Blue Star is already a significant contributor to the metro rail segment in India for air conditioning and tunnel ventilation works.

Source: Exchange Filing

• IDFC Limited aims to complete merger with IDFC First Bank in FY23, barring unforeseen circumstances

• IDFC Limited has completed all necessary stages of Corporate Simplifications

• Axis Capital Limited has been appointed for fairness opinion on the share exchange ratio

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of UNO Minda Ltd. advanced 1.54% to Rs 468.85 apiece in trade on Tuesday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.27%.

The company will acquire an 81.69% stake in Kosei Minda Aluminum Company and a 49.9% stake in Kosei Minda Mould from joint venture partner Kosei, Japan, in share swap deals to consolidate its four-wheeler alloy business.

Scrip rose as much as 2.70% intraday, the most in over five weeks since Feb. 9, 2023. Total traded volume stood at 2.8 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 35.

Out of the 18 analysts tracking the company, 15 maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends 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 34.8% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

• Riddhi Bhimani and A. Siddharth have been appointed as independent directors with effect from March 21.

• The term of their appointments as independent directors will be for a period of five consecutive years, subject to the approval of shareholders.

• A. Siddharth stepped down as a non-independent director of the company from March 20, 2022.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of information technology services companies declined in trade on Tuesday and the headline index NSE Nifty 50 was higher by 0.3% in trade.

The NSE IT Index was down 0.49% in trade. All 10 constituents compiled by the gauge declined.

Persistent Systems Ltd., Mphasis Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Coforge Ltd., Larsen and Toubro Technology Services Ltd., LTIMindtree Ltd., TCS Ltd., Wipro Ltd., and Infosys Ltd., declined in trade.

Source: NSE

All Adani Group company stocks advanced in trade, with Adani Enterprises Ltd. rising 1.3%. and Adani Green Energy up 4%.

Source: Bloomberg

The broader market indices were trading higher; S&P BSE MidCap was up 0.26% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.51%.

Seventeen out of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, whereas S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods, S&P BSE Information Technology and S&P BSE Teck declined in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 1,684 stocks rose 669 declined, and 112 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Source: BSE

Bajaj Finance Ltd., Bajaj Finserv Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and Bharti Airtel Ltd. were the top gainers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Whereas, Tech Mahindra Ltd., Power Grid Corp of India Ltd., ITC Ltd., BPCL Ltd., and Cipla Ltd., were the top losers of the NSE Nifty 50 gauge.

Indian equity benchmarks eked gains at the opening bell on Tuesday.

The headline indices snapped two days of gain and corrected from the intraday low of over 1.3% to end marginally lower on Monday.

Asian markets advanced tracking overnight cues from the peers on Wall Street, the news of the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS Group AG stemmed selling in banking shares.

However, the mood remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's meeting, due on Wednesday.

Investors have increased bets on a quarter-point hike as the recent financial turmoil has spurred speculation on a slower pace of tightening from major central banks worldwide.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was up 334 points or 0.58% at 57,963.25 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 72 points or 0.42% higher at 17,060.40.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was up 334 points or 0.58% at 57,963.25 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 72 points or 0.42% higher at 17,060.40.

Source: Bloomberg

The local currency strengthens by 10 paise to open 82.54 against the greenback on Tuesday. It closed at 82.64 on Monday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Windfall tax on crude petroleum has been reduced to Rs 3,500 per tonne from Rs 4,400.

• The additional excise duty on the export of diesel has been increased to Rs 1 per litre from Rs 0.50 per litre.

Source: Gazette notification

• U.S. Dollar Index at 103.3

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.48%

• Brent crude down 0.76% to $73.23 per barrel

• Nymex crude at $67.29 per barrel

• SGX Nifty up 0.37% at 17,099.5 as of 8:25 a.m.

• Bitcoin down 0.66% to $27,895.93

• Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilisers: Promoter Zuari Agro Chemicals created a pledge of 11.77 lakh shares on March 16.

• Maharashtra Seamless: Promoter group Sudha Apparels bought 1 lakh shares, promoter group 23,000 shares bought Dharam Pal Jindal & Sons HUF on March 17.

• Mukand: Promoter group Jeewan Ltd. sold 5,385 shares on March 16.

• Elpro International: Promoter and director Surbhit Dabriwala sold 3 lakh shares, promoter Yamini Dabriwala sold 18 lakh shares on March 17.

• Zydus Wellness: Promoter Zydus Family Trust bought 5,579 shares on March 17.

• Sobha: Promoter Puthan N C Menon bought 20,000 shares on March 17.

• Ex-Date Interim Dividend: GAIL (India), Sun TV Network, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, Kama Holdings, KDDL, National Aluminium

• Ex-Date Bonus Issue: Magellanic Cloud

• Record Date Interim Dividend: GAIL (India), Sun TV Network, Kama Holdings, KDDL, National Aluminium

• Move Out Of Short-Term ASM Framework: Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers

• PVR: ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 6.41 lakh shares (0.65%), SBI Mutual Fund bought 14.7 lakh shares (1.5%), Societe Generale-ODI 3.28 lakh shares (0.34%), Berry Creek Investment sold 24.39 lakh shares (2.49%) at Rs 1,559.35 apiece.

• HDFC Asset Management Company: 47.34 lakh shares (2.22%) at Rs 1,600 apiece, GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund sold 24.79 lakh shares (1.16%) at Rs 1,600.85 apiece.

• UTI Asset Management Company: PPFAS Mutual Fund bought 11.23 lakh shares (0.88%) at Rs 636 apiece.

• Abans Holdings: Jai Ambe Tradexim bought 2.65 lakh shares (0.53%) at Rs 209.82 apiece, Precious Tradeways sold 2.65 lakh shares (0.53%) at Rs 209.8 apiece.

• Choice International: Patodia Properties bought 10.3 lakh shares (1.04%) at Rs 255.03 apiece, 11 lakhs shares (1.11%) at Rs 255 shares.

• Shrem InvIT: Rohit Kapadia bought 42 lakh shares (0.88%), Kairus Shavak Dadachanji bought 90 lakh shares (1.89%), Shrem Infra Structure sold 1.56 crore shares (3.27%) at Rs 114 apiece.

• Adani Enterprises: The company clarified that the green PVC project in Mundra has been held up on account of financial closure pending with the lenders. The same is expected to be cleared within six months, it said in a statement.

• Indian Oil Corporation/NTPC: Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC Green Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC, will form a joint venture for the setting up of renewable energy power plants to meet the round-the-clock power requirements of new projects at the former’s refineries.

• Uno Minda: The company will acquire an 81.69% stake in Kosei Minda Aluminum Company and a 49.9% stake in Kosei Minda Mould from joint venture partner Kosei, Japan, in share swap deals to consolidate its four-wheeler alloy business.

• Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy: The company emerged as the successful bidder for a package consisting of four blocks of 300 MW each in the proposed 1200MW Solar PV project of NTPC Renewable Energy at Khavda RE Power Park, Rann of Kutch. The total bid value, including operation and maintenance for three years, will be Rs 2,100 crore.

• Lupin: The company’s alliance partner Caplin Steriles received final approval from the U.S. FDA to market its Thiamine Hydrochloride Injection USP and Rocuronium Bromide Injection.

• Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories: Coya Therapeutics, in a statement, announced a worldwide agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to license the latter’s proposed Abatacept biosimilar for the development of Coya’s combination product for neurodegenerative diseases, COYA 302.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank: The bank allotted 30,000 non-convertible debentures of a face value of Rs 1 lakh each on a private placement basis to raise Rs 300 crore.

• RBL Bank: The Reserve Bank of India imposed a penalty of Rs 2.27 crore over the bank’s failure to ensure that debt recovery agents engaged by it did not resort to intimidation or harassment of any kind.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: The company formed a JV with Jakson Green for clean energy EPC projects globally.

• PNC Infratech: The company received the notification of intention to award from Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation for design and construction of civil works from New Patli to Patli and New Patli to Sultanpur for a quoted price of Rs 771.46 crore.

• J Kumar Infraprojects: The company’s joint venture, J Kumar-AICPL received a letter of acceptance from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation for the construction of an airport depot for the Bangalore Metro Rail Project at a contract cost of Rs 182.34 crore.

• Tata Motors: The company has appointed Usha Sangwan as an additional director and independent director for five years, from May 15, 2023, to May 14, 2028.

• CEAT: The company appointed Arnab Banerjee as MD and CEO for two years from April 1, 2023, after the resignation of Anant Goenka from the post. Goenka has been appointed as a non-executive non-independent director, designated as vice chairman of the company.

• Dwarikesh Sugar Industries: The company’s board approved an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share of face value Rs 1 for the current fiscal, with an outgo of Rs 37.66 crore. The record date for the dividend will be March 31, 2023.

• PCBL: The company started the pre-commissioning trial run of the first phase (63,000 MT) of a 147,000 MT greenfield carbon black manufacturing facility in the state of Tamil Nadu by its wholly owned subsidiary PCBL (TN) Ltd.

• Dynamatic Technologies: The company’s board allotted 4.5 lakh shares at Rs 2,509 apiece to raise Rs 112.91 crore from three entities.

Asian markets advanced following the gains on Wall Street as immediate concerns over the strength of the global financial system dissipated.

All 11 groups in the S&P 500 rose as regulators worldwide rushed to shore up market confidence. Contracts for the gauge and the Nasdaq 100 were steady in early Asian trading.

Banks enjoyed relief after days of turmoil that triggered last week’s 15% rout in an index of U.S. lenders. UBS Group AG rose as investors focused on the upside of its Credit Suisse Group AG takeover.

Investors have increased their bets on a quarter-point hike as the recent financial turmoil has spurred speculation on a slower pace of tightening from major central banks worldwide.

The yield on 10-year Treasury note was trading at 3.48%. Crude oil prices were trading around the $73 mark, while Bitcoin was around the $27,000 level.

At 8:25 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of India's benchmark Nifty 50, was up 0.44% at 17,099.5.

Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, snapped their two-day rally to close in the red, dragged by losses in metal and PSU stocks.

The Indian rupee pared opening gains to close lower against the U.S. dollar as investors remained cautious in the face of a global banking crisis and an upcoming FOMC meeting.

Foreign investors in Indian equities remained net sellers for the eighth day in a row. Foreign portfolio investors sold equities worth Rs 2,545.8 crore on Monday. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the eighth consecutive day as they bought equities worth Rs 2,876.6 crore.