Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty End Lower As Fed Hike, Yellen Comments Rattle Markets

Overseas investors in Indian equities turned net sellers on Thursday, after a day.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 995.01 crore during the day, according to data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the eleventh day in a row, as they raked in equities worth Rs 1,668.85 crore.

Foreign portfolio investors have remained net sellers so far in 2023, offloading around Rs 51,080.93 crore.

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

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency appreciated about 40 paise to close at 82.26 against the greenback.

• It closed at 82.67 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks closed lower along with most of their global peers after comments by Fed Chief Powell and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the safety of bank deposits rattled investors.

U.S. traders got a double dose of stress on Wednesday following the Fed’s expected 25-basis-point rate hike and Yellen telling the lawmakers that the government wasn’t considering a “blanket” deposit insurance to stabilize the banking system.

Asian markets were mixed, whereas European stocks fell as investors awaited key rates decisions in the region. U.S equity futures climbed, signaling a recovery following a tumultuous day of losses on Wall Street Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index closed down 289 points or 0.50% at 57,925.28 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 75 points or 0.44% lower at 17,076.90.

Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., and Larsen and Toubro Ltd. were negatively contributing to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Adani Group company stocks ended mixed in trade. Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd., Ambuja Cements Ltd., and Adani Power Ltd., declined in trade, whereas all the other stocks advanced.

The Mumbai Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange have again put Adani Power Ltd. under the short-term additional surveillance measures framework as of March 23. Adani Power had just come out of the short-term ASM framework on March 17, along with Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Adani Wilmar Ltd.

Adani Green Energy and NDTV Ltd. moved into the first stage of the long-term additional surveillance measures framework on Monday, March 20.

The broader market indices were tradin lower; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.45% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.15%.

Eleven out the 19 sectors compiled by BSE declined, whereas eight sectors advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of sellers. About 1,446 stocks rose 2,055 declined, and 133 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Patel Engineering', which is the 50% partner in the joint venture will receive a share of Rs 1,818.56 for the order.

• The order entails construction of civil works for the Dibang Multipurpose Project, located in Arunachal Pradesh, India.

• The said project is to be executed in a period of 86 months.

Source: Exchange filing

• Company says that increased cost pressure driven by inflation is the primary reason for the hike.

• Maruti said that it is making efforts to reduce cost and partially offset the increase.

• The planned price increase will be effective from April 2023 and it will vary across the models.

Source: Exchange filing

• Infosys has named D. Sundaram as the Lead Independent Director of Infosys with effect from March 23.

• His appointment comes after Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who was the Lead Independent Director since 2018, resigned.

• Sundaram has been a member of the board of Infosys since 2017.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Vascon Engineers Ltd. received an order from Superintending Engineer, PMGSY Circle representing Uttar Pradesh PWD for the construction of a prison in Amethi.

• The letter of acceptance encapsulates work worth Rs 158.09 crore, inclusive of GST.

• This is for design, engineering, procurement and construction of Jila Karagar at Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

• The work has to be completed within 18 months from the date of receipt of LOA.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Parason has collaborated with ABB in India to automate and up-scale production of sustainable and compostable packaging solutions.

• Parson is a manufacturer & supplier of pulp and paper machinery.

• ABB robots, integrated with Parason’s machinery, will help to facilitate the effective manufacturing of agro-waste products and increase equipment effectiveness by 30%.

• This collaboration aims to support India’s ambition to reduce 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste per year.

Source: Exchange Filing

Indian equity benchmarks recovered early losses amid volatility through midday on Thursday.

Asian markets were mixed following a slump on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve pushed back against bets for interest rate cuts this year while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rattled bank shares.

U.S. traders got a double dose of stress on Wednesday that reversed an initial rally in shares following the Fed’s expected 25-basis-point rate hike.

In a broad-based selloff, the S&P 500 dropped 1.7%. All 22 stocks in the KBW Bank Index retreated, with the measure of US financial heavyweights down almost 5%.

Additionally, Yellen told lawmakers that the government wasn’t considering “blanket” deposit insurance to stabilize the banking system while Fed chief Jerome Powell said he was prepared to keep raising rates until inflation shows signs of cooling.

As of 12:18 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex Index was up 71 points or 0.12% at 58,285.47 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 14 points or 0.08% lower at 17,166.10.

Reliance Industries Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., Kota Mahindra Bank Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., and were negatively contributing to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, ITC Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., L&T Ltd., and Bharti Airtel Ltd., were positively adding to the change.

Only Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Ambuja Cements Ltd. declined in trade, while all the other Adani Group company stocks advanced.

The broader market indices were mixed; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.30% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was higher by 0.17%.

Fourteen out the 19 sectors compiled by BSE advnced, whereas five sectors declined in trade.

The market breadth was split between the buyers and sellers. About 1,678 stocks rose 1,621 declined, and 141 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Anupam Rasayan has signed Letter of Intent worth revenue of Rs 984 crore for next 6 years with a Japanese chemical company.

• It will supply new age advance intermediate for life science active ingredient which will be manufactured for the first time in India.

• The product will be manufactured in its existing as well as upcoming multipurpose manufacturing facilities.

Source: Exchange Filing

• The local currency strengthened by 49 paise to trade at 82.18 against the greenback on Thursday. It closed at 82.67 on Tuesday.

• Rupee touched 82.10-mark intraday, the most in three weeks since it last traded at 82.00 on March 9, 2023.

Source: Bloomberg

• IndusInd Bank has been authorized for collection of Direct Taxes Under its Agency Bank Licence.

• Direct taxes to be collected to include Income tax, advance tax, TDS and all other direct taxes that fall under the purview of CBDT.

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of G R Infraprojects Ltd. advanced 3.54% to Rs 999.4 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.09%.

The company emerged as the lowest bidder for the six-laning of the Surat-Nashik-Ahmednagar-Solapur greenfield stretch from Hasapur to Badadal in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 872.17 crore. It has also been selected for the construction of civil works at the Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh for Rs 3,637.12 crore.

Scrip rose as much as 4.84% intraday, the most since March 20, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 5.1 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 42.

Out of the 14 analysts tracking the company, 11 maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold' and one suggests to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 42% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Chalet Hotels Ltd. advanced 2.07% to Rs 369.7 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading higher by 0.06%.

The company will acquire a 100% stake in Sonmil Industries for 74.65 crore and an 82.28% stake in The Dukes Retreat. Sonmil owns the land in Khandala where The Dukes Retreat runs a property.

Scrip rose as much as 2.71% intraday, the most since March 17, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 3.1 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 56.

Six analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 31.3% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Nazara Technologies Ltd. advanced 1.62% to Rs 514.9 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.11%.

Absolute Sports, a subsidiary of the company and the parent of sports news platform Sportskeeda, will acquire 73.27% of Pro Football Network, which is the third-ranked platform for coverage and analysis of the National Football League in the U.S.

Scrip rose as much as 3.55% intraday, the most since March 21, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 7.2 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 45.5.

Out of the 12 analysts tracking the company, nine maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold' and one suggests to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 48.5% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of HG Infra Engineering Ltd. advanced 1.85% to Rs 788.1 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.10%.

The company has been selected as the lowest bidder by the National Highways Authority of India for the construction of a six-lane greenfield Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata highway from Lepo village in Jharkhand to Kamlapur village on the Jharkhand-West Bengal border. The estimated project cost is Rs 764.01 crore.

Scrip rose as much as 2.48% intraday, the most since March 17, 2023. The relative strength index was at 61.

Fifteen analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating on the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 22.6% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Coromandel International Ltd. advanced 1.49% to Rs 879.9 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.23%.

The board approved the company’s foray into the contract development and manufacturing organisation business and speciality and industrial chemicals. The board also approved scaling up the company’s crop protection chemicals business.

Scrip rose as much as 2.95% intraday, the most in over two weeks since March 6, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 9.6 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 47.

Out of the 12 analysts tracking the company, 10 maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold' on the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 37.4% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Hero MotoCorp Ltd. advanced 0.74% to Rs 2,370.55 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.16%.

The company will hike prices for certain motorcycles and scooters from April 1, 2023 to cover cost increases on account of the transition to On-Board Diagnostic II. The price hike will be around 2% and vary by specific models and markets.

Scrip rose as much as 1.30% intraday, the most since March 15, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 1.7 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 31.6.

Out of the 48 analysts tracking the company, 28 maintain a 'buy' rating, 12 recommend a 'hold' and eight suggest to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 23.4% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. declined 5.06% to Rs 2,491.9 apiece in trade on Thursday. The headline index NSE Nifty 50 was trading lower by 0.16%.

The company announced in an exchange filing that central government will sell up to a 3.5% stake in the company via an offer-for-sale route on March 23 and 24 at a price of Rs 2,450 per share.

Scrip fell as much as 5.70% intraday, the most since March 20, 2023.

Total traded volume stood at 5.1 time its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 38.

Out of the 10 analysts tracking the company, nine maintain a 'buy' rating and one suggests to 'sell' the stock.

The return potential as calculated by the consensus of analyst estimates, stand at an upside of 28.2% over the next 12 months.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

The broader market indices ended marginally lower; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.33% whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was lower by 0.06%.

Elevel out the 19 sectors compiled by BSE declined, whereas eight sectors advanced in trade.

The market breadth was split between the buyers and sellers. About 1,466 stocks rose 1,143 declined, and 111 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Source: BSE

Relaince Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., HDFC Ltd., and Asian Paints Ltd., were negatively contributing to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, L&T Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., and Tata Motors Ltd. were positively adding to the change.

Only Adani Green Energy Ltd., Adani Transmission Ltd., and Adani Total Gas Ltd. advanced in trade, while all the other Adani Group company stocks declined in trade on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks declined in early trade on Thursday morning.

Asian markets declined following a slump on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve pushed back against bets for interest rate cuts this year while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rattled bank shares.

U.S. traders got a double dose of stress on Wednesday that reversed an initial rally in shares following the Fed’s expected 25-basis-point rate hike.

In a broad-based selloff, the S&P 500 dropped 1.7%. All 22 stocks in the KBW Bank Index retreated, with the measure of US financial heavyweights down almost 5%.

Additionally, Yellen told lawmakers that the government wasn’t considering “blanket” deposit insurance to stabilize the banking system while Fed chief Jerome Powell said he was prepared to keep raising rates until inflation shows signs of cooling.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was down 153 points or 0.26% at 58,061.41 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 55 points or 0.32% lower at 17,097.40.

• Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. received final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration for Calcipotriene and Betamethasone Dipropionate Foam; the generic version of Enstilar.

• Glenmark is eligible for 180 days of generic drug exclusivity for these drugs as it was the first ANDA applicant to submit a substantially complete ANDA with a paragraph IV certification.

Source: Exchange Filing

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was down 153 points or 0.26% at 58,061.41 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 55 points or 0.32% lower at 17,097.40.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd. and its international subsidiaries have secured new orders worth Rs 2,477 crore.

• Orders in the T&D business are of Rs 1,181 crore in India and overseas markets.

• EPC projects in the water business are worth Rs 1,296 crore.

Source: Exchange Filing

The yield on the 10-year bond declined by 3 bps to 7.30% at open on Thursday. It closed at 7.33% on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

The local currency strengthens by 27 paise to open at 82.40 against the greenback on Thursday. It closed at 82.67 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• U.S. Dollar Index at 102.3

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.46%

• Brent crude down 0.98% to $75.94 per barrel

• Nymex crude at $70.08 per barrel

• SGX Nifty down 0.17% at 17,128.5 as of 8:10 a.m.

• Bitcoin down 0.46% to $27,266.25

• Jindal Steel & Power: Promoter group Siddeshwari Tradex 13.5 lakh shares created a pledge of March 21.

• HCL Technologies: Promoter Vama Sundari Investments Delhi bought 96,593 shares on March 16.

• Jai Corp: Promoter Ruchi Jain Hanasoge bought 4.73 lakh shares between March 17 and 20.

• Bajaj Holdings & Investment: Promoter group Hercules Hoists bought 28,460 shares between March 17 and 20.

• Greaves Cotton: Promoter Karun Carpets bought 1.19 lakh shares between March 21 and 22.

• Zydus Wellness: Promoter Zydus Family Trust bought 89,087 shares on March 21.

• Sobha: Promoter Puthan NC Menon bought 20,000 shares on March 20.

• Ex-Date Interim Dividend: Mishra Dhatu Nigam

• Record Date Interim Dividend: Mishra Dhatu Nigam

• Move Into Short-Term ASM Framework: Adani Power

• Move Out Of Short-Term ASM Framework: GRM Overseas

• Kajaria Ceramics: Small Cap World Fund sold 12.5 lakh shares (0.79%) at Rs 1,040.03 apiece.

• Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences: Polar Capital Funds sold 11.06 lakh shares (1.38%) at Rs 1,300.03 apiece.

• Max Financial Services: New York Life Insurance Company bought 15 lakh shares (0.43%), Max Ventures Investment Holdings sold 15 lakh shares (0.43%) at Rs 629.75 apiece.

• Dhampur Sugar Mills: Saraswati Properties bought 10.35 lakh shares (1.56%), Deepa Goel sold 10.35 lakh shares (1.56%) at Rs 213 apiece.

• Hindustan Aeronautics: The central government will sell up to a 3.5% stake in the company via an offer-for-sale route on March 23 and 24 at a price of Rs 2,450 per share.

• Hero MotoCorp: The company will hike prices for certain motorcycles and scooters from April 1 to cover cost increases on account of the transition to On-Board Diagnostic II. The price hike will be around 2% and vary by specific models and markets.

• Larsen & Toubro: The company signed an agreement with France-based McPhy Energy for a long-term partnership where the latter will grant an exclusive manufacturing license of its pressurised alkaline electrolyser technology to the former, including future product upgrades.

• Reliance Industries: Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG arm of the company’s retail subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures, expanded its FMCG portfolio with the launch of personal and home care products.

• Power Grid Corporation of India: The company acquired six special-purpose vehicles from REC Power Development and Consultancy for a cumulative consideration of Rs 80.23 crore. The SPVs have been mostly formed for the construction of transmission projects in Khavda region of Gujarat.

• GR Infraprojects: The company emerged as the lowest bidder for the six-laning of the Surat-Nashik-Ahmednagar-Solapur greenfield stretch from Hasapur to Badadal in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 872.17 crore. It has also been selected for the construction of civil works at the Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh for Rs 3,637.12 crore.

• PNC Infratech: The company’s subsidiary, Sonauli Gorakhpur Highway, received the appointed date of March 6, 2023, for the four-laning of the Sonauli-Gorakhpur section of the NH-29 national highway in Uttar Pradesh.

• Coromandel International: The board approved the company’s foray into the contract development and manufacturing organisation business and speciality and industrial chemicals. The board also approved scaling up the company’s crop protection chemicals business.

• HG Infra Engineering: The company has been selected as the lowest bidder by the National Highways Authority of India for the construction of a six-lane greenfield Varanasi-Ranchi-Kolkata highway from Lepo village in Jharkhand to Kamlapur village on the Jharkhand-West Bengal border. The estimated project cost is Rs 764.01 crore.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance: The company will delist 5.68 lakh Global Depository Receipts, representing 0.12% of its paid-up capital, from the Luxembourg Stock Exchange due to low trading volume.

• Chalet Hotels: The company will acquire a 100% stake in Sonmil Industries for 74.65 crore and an 82.28% stake in The Dukes Retreat. Sonmil owns the land in Khandala where The Dukes Retreat runs a property.

• Nazara Technologies: Absolute Sports, a subsidiary of the company and the parent of sports news platform Sportskeeda, will acquire 73.27% of Pro Football Network, which is the third-ranked platform for coverage and analysis of the National Football League in the U.S.

Asian markets were mixed following a slump on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve pushed back against bets for interest rate cuts this year while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen rattled bank shares.

U.S. traders got a double dose of stress on Wednesday that reversed an initial rally in shares following the Fed’s expected 25-basis-point rate hike.

In a broad-based selloff, the S&P 500 dropped 1.7%. All 22 stocks in the KBW Bank Index retreated, with the measure of U.S. financial heavyweights down almost 5%.

Additionally, Yellen told lawmakers that the government wasn’t considering "blanket" deposit insurance to stabilise the banking system, while Fed chief Jerome Powell said he was prepared to keep raising rates until inflation shows signs of cooling.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was trading at 3.46%. Crude oil prices were trading around the $76 mark, while Bitcoin was hovering around the $27,000 level.

At 8:10 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of India's benchmark Nifty 50, was down 0.17% at 17,128.5.

Both the Indian benchmark indices—Sensex and Nifty—closed around 0.2% higher, with pharma, healthcare, and PSU stocks leading the rally.

The currency markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Gudi Padwa celebrations.

Foreign investors in Indian equities ended their nine-day-long selling spree to become net buyers on Wednesday. Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth Rs 61.7 crore during the day. Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the tenth day as they raked in equities worth Rs 383.5 crore.