Closing Bell: Market ends at fresh record high; Nifty Bank up 2.5%

Indian benchmark indices ended higher for the second consecutive session on March 1 with Nifty above 22,300. The Sensex was up 1,245.05 points or 1.72 percent at 73,745.35, and the Nifty was up 356 points or 1.62 percent at 22,338.80.

We wrap up today's edition of the Moneycontrol live market blog, and will be back tomorrow morning on special live trading session for latest updates and alerts. Please visit https://www.moneycontrol.com/markets/global-indices/ for all the global market action.

The strong resilience in India's Q3 GDP growth numbers propelled Sensex & Nifty to fresh record highs amid a rally in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Tata Steel and banking stocks. Despite the sharp rally, volatility cannot be ruled out due to ongoing concerns like delay in rate cuts, conflicts in the Middle East and expensive valuations of local stocks. The upsurge shows that investors are willing to place bullish bets on Indian stocks amid continuity in economic policies and robust investment climate. From a technical perspective, if today’s bullish trading action is any indication, then Nifty’s next goal post is seen at its psychological 22500 mark followed by aggressive targets placed at 23000 mark, while the make-or-break support is at 21861 mark.

The Nifty opened gap up and continued to inch higher throughout the day to close with gains of ~356 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty has broken out of a Running Triangle pattern indicating start of a fresh leg of upmove. The daily Bollinger bands have begun to expand and with prices trading along the upper band indicates that there could be sharp trending moves on the upside. We expect Nifty to target levels of 23000 – 23100 from short term perspective. On the downside the zone of 21900 – 21860 shall now act as a crucial support zone and a breach below it shall lead to a trend reversal.

Bank Nifty has held on to the support zone of 45800 – 45600 and started the next leg of upmove which can take the Bank Nifty towards the zone of 48630 – 48660. Bank Nifty is likely to take the lad and support the next leg of the upmove. Participation from key Heavyweights is likely to aid the upmove.

Markets surged strongly on Friday and reclaimed the record high. After the initial uptick, Nifty moved from strength to strength as the day progressed and finally settled around the day’s high to close at 22,338.75; up by 1.6%. The majority of sectors contributed to the move wherein metal, banking and auto posted strong gains. However, the broader indices underperformed the benchmark but managed to end with modest gains.

We are eyeing 22,800 in Nifty now thus participants should continue with a “buy on dips” approach until it breaks 21,900. We feel the participation of the banking pack would continue to play a critical role in maintaining the prevailing momentum while others may play a supportive part on a rotational basis. Traders should maintain stock-specific approach and prefer index majors and large midcap counters for long trades.

The rupee traded sideways with minor gains, reaching 82.88 against the dollar. While dollar volatility persisted, the strength in Indian markets supported the rupee to remain above 82.90. Looking ahead, the range for the rupee is shifting higher between 83.20 and 82.60, with gains expected but likely to be limited.

On March 1, Indian benchmark indices surged for the second consecutive session, reaching new record highs. The Nifty surpassed the 22,300 mark, buoyed by positive global signals, robust GDP numbers, and a rally in metals and oil marketing stocks. At the closing bell, the Sensex soared by 1,245.05 points or 1.72 percent, reaching 73,745.35, while the Nifty climbed by 356.00 points or 1.62 percent, closing at 22,338.80.

In the weekly perspective, the Sensex, Nifty, and Nifty Bank extended their gains for the third consecutive week, advancing by up to 1% each. Conversely, the Midcap index broke its four-week winning streak, declining by 1%.

Tomorrow's special live trading session holds significance, with the Nifty's projected target aligned at 22,640, while 22,200 stands firm as a robust support level. Any retracement towards this support zone is perceived as an opportune moment for buyers.

Better than expected Q3FY24 GDP and ease in US inflation added buoyancy in both domestic and global markets. As the general election draws closer, stellar economic growth data raised confidence among investors for a pre-election rally. On the global front, in-line US personal consumption expenditure data and benign Euro zone inflation will influence global central banks to take a dovish view on interest rates.

In the rising channel, the Index is oscillating with a higher top higher bottom formation indicating the presence of a strong uptrend, and as per the pattern, the approximate target is 22,640 while the level of 22,200 will serve as a strong support. The technical set-up of the Banking stocks (IndusInd Bank- Symmetrical Triangle Breakout, Kotak Bank- Bullish Hammer Candlestick pattern at a strong support zone with a bullish divergence in RSI, SBIN- Flag and Pole Breakout) is pointing towards an extension of the existing trend. The level of 48,000 will be considered as the immediate resistance while the downside seems to be protected at 46,700.

From the Auto segment, Auto components & equipment stocks look strong namely Jamna Auto (Symmetrical Triangle Breakout) and Rico Auto (Cup and Handle Breakout). Bharat Forge and Tata Motors have also given a breakout from Symmetrical and Ascending Triangle formation respectively.

We retain our positive stance on TCS (Rounding Bottom Breakout) from the IT pack. A couple of stocks from the Metal sector have given a strong breakout namely HindCopper (Ascending Triangle Breakout), Jindal Steel (Cup and Handle Breakout), SAIL (Symmetrical Triangle Breakout), and Tata Steel (Rounding Bottom Breakout).

From the Oil & Gas segment, Oil India has given a breakout from a bullish Flag and Pole formation with a hidden bullish divergence in RSI. Considering a higher timeframe, couple of stocks have given a strong breakout which we have covered in our monthly technical picks report as well namely Astral, CAMS, Garware Technical Fibres, Graphite, ICIL, Indus Tower, Havells India, and SH Kelkar Company Ltd.

Sensex, Nifty & Nifty Bank gain for 3rd straight week, rise up to 1% each
Midcap index snaps 4 week gaining streak, falls 1%
Nifty Metal top gaining sector, rises nearly 2%, Nifty Media falls the most, down 7%

The Bank Nifty bulls maintained their dominance, leading the index to overcome significant hurdles with notable volumes. The current support for the index is established in the range of 47000-46900, and any pullback towards this support zone is seen as a favorable buying opportunity. There is a strong indication that the index is poised to surpass its all-time high levels, situated at the 48500 mark, in the near term.

Indian rupee ended flat at 82.90 per dollar on Friday versus Thursday's close of 82.91.

: Indian benchmark indices ended higher for the second consecutive session and touched fresh record highs on March 1 with Nifty above 22,300.

At close, the Sensex was up 1,245.05 points or 1.72 percent at 73,745.35, and the Nifty was up 356.00 points or 1.62 percent at 22,338.80. About 2079 shares advanced, 1214 shares declined, and 77 shares unchanged.

Biggest gainers on the Nifty were Tata Steel, L&T, JSW Steel, Titan Company and IndusInd Bank, while losers were Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Britannia Industries.

Among sectors, Metal index up 4 percent, while auto, bank, capital good and oil & gas up 2 percent each. On the other hand, healthcare index down 1 percent and Information Technology index down 0.5 percent.

BSE midcap and smallcap indices added 0.5 percent each.

Sensex Today | Nifty Realty index up 0.5 percnet led by Sobha, Oberoi Realty, Hemisphere Properties India

-Buy call, target Rs 200 per share
-US henry hub prices have fallen sharply
-From an average of nearly $2.7/mmbtu in Q3FY24 to nearly $1.5/mmbtu currently
-PE prices are trending largely flattish (+1%) QoQ
-Estimate US Henry Hub prices could bring down company’s input gas cost in petchem segment
-Realisations remain largely stable
-Company’s gas trading differentials in Q4 are trending broadly similar to Q2FY24
-Company’s gas trading differentials implies that trading EBITDA could also be broadly stable
-Impact of APM gas allocation declined to Nil from mid-Dec’23
-Impact of APM gas allocation declining could be offset by sharp decline in spot LNG Prices
-Opex is left largely flattish on a QoQ basis
-Flatish opex should therefore yield segmental EBITDA gains in Q4FY24

Sensex Today | BSE Information Technology Index down 0.5 percent dragged by Intellect Design Arena, Aurionpro Solutions, Newgen Software Technologies

Indian Rupee gained by 0.05% on upbeat domestic markets and robust macroeconomic data from India. Domestic markets are up by ~1.5%. India’s GDP expanded unexpectedly by 8.4% in Q3 FY2024 versus 7.6% in Q2 FY2024 beating all projections. Fiscal deficit widened to Rs 11.03 lakh crore in April-January, at 63.6% of budgeted estimate. India’s manufacturing PMI expanded to 56.9 in February versus 56.5 in January. US Dollar rose on month-end rebalancing. However, Core PCE price index slowed to 2.8% in January 2024 versus 2.9% in December 2023 and in line with estimates. Weekly unemployment claims jumped to 215,000 as compared to forecast of 202,000. Pending home sales declined by 4.9% in January 2024 vs forecast of increase by 1.4%.

We expect Rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on improved risk sentiments in the domestic markets following stellar GDP data and positive domestic equities. However, strong US Dollar and elevated crude oil prices may cap sharp upside. Traders may remain cautious ahead of ISM manufacturing PMI and construction spending data from US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.60 to Rs 83.10.

-Sell call, target Rs 850 per share
-Company’s arm Piramal Capital & Hsg Fin received IT assessment order for FY22
-The IT assessment allowed loss of Rs 10,600 crore to be carried forward
-The IT action pertains to year of acquisition & reverse merger with erstwhile DHFL
-During The merger with erstwhile DHFL, assets were knocked down significantly by Rs 20,000 crore
-Company has suo-moto withdrawn claim of Rs 3,700 crore
-Benefit was expected for Rs 16,000 crore
-Out of Rs 16,000 crore, Rs 10,600 crore has been received favorable tax order
-For balance, clarity is still awaited

Shares of Juniper Hotels Ltd surges nearly 7 percent after Elara Securities initiated coverage on the stock with buy rating and increased target price by 25 percent to Rs 545 a share. Juniper, being a Hyatt affiliate company, is expected to trade at a premium to its peers. With several organic and inorganic growth opportunities and strong promoter pedigree, we expect topline/EBITDA/PAT CAGRs of 17%/20%/33% through FY24E-27E, Elara said.

India will stick to its revised fiscal deficit target of 5.8% for fiscal year 2024, a top government source said on Friday.

The country's economy grew at its fastest pace in one-and-a-half years in the final three months of 2023, data released on Thursday showed.

After successful partnership for more than three years, Warner Music has expanded its agreement with music label Tips Industries. This new deal will now see Warner Music take on the commercial and distribution responsibilities for all Tips Music’s frontline and catalogue music on all audio streaming apps, which spans across 23 Indian languages and 30,000+ songs.

The recent amendment introducing the 45-day payment rule reflects a strategic change in the government's stance toward supporting MSMEs. By linking tax deductions to prompt payments, it not only addresses the issue of delayed payments but also provides a crucial boost to liquidity. The phased implementation, starting with disclosure requirements and progressing to tax disallowance, reveals a carefully considered regulatory strategy. The proposed addition of Clause (h) in Section 43B is a testament to the government's intent to strengthen the MSME ecosystem gradually. This evolving approach underscores the government's unwavering dedication to fortifying the economic backbone, emphasizing ongoing support for sustainable growth

Bio Analytical Laboratory, Shilpa Medicare Limited, Unit 7, Nacharam, Hyderabad, India was inspected by USFDA from 26 Feb, 2024 to 01 March, 2024.

This unannounced USFDA Inspection has been closed without any 483 observation, stating the satisfactory compliance towards facility, systems and acceptability of data generated from this laboratory.

The Rs 224-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Mukka Proteins was subscribed 4.55 times on March 1, the second day of bidding.

Retail investors led the race, subscribing 7.1 times the quota of shares set aside for them. High net-worth individuals picked 3.33 times their allotted quota and qualified institutional buyers 1.02 times their reserved portion.

The price band for the offer, which closes March 4, has been fixed at Rs 26-28 a share

The company plans to allocate Rs 120 crore of the proceeds to meet its working capital requirements. A sum of Rs 10 crore will be set aside for associate Ento Proteins and the remaining for general corporate purposes.

Daniel Spinder has ceased to be the Chief Financial Officer of Siemens, with effect from March 1, 2024. Hence, Wolfgang Wrumnig has been appointed as the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the company for 5 years with effect from March 1; and Orban von Fedak has been appointed as the Finance Head of company’s mobility business.

Sensex Today | BSE Telecom index up 1.6 percent led by Vodafone Idea. HFCL, Indus Towers

CG Power and Industrial Solutions, semiconductor solutions company Renesas Electronics Corporation, and Thailand-based outsourced semiconductor assembly and test provider Stars Microelectronics (Thailand) Public Co. Ltd recently signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) to build and operate an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility in India.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | HSBC View On OMCs

Re-rated, but there is still room
HPCL – buy call, target raised to Rs 630 per share from Rs 375 per share
BPCL – buy call, target raised to Rs 860 per share from Rs 555 per share
IOC – buy call, target raised to Rs 185 per share from Rs 130 per share
Expect rangebound oil prices to support profitability in near-term
Medium-term to benefit from refinery upgrade
Revise valuation multiples to reflect reduced government intervention & tacit support

-Retain outperform call on Apollo Hospital, target Rs 7,000 per share
-SC directs standardisation of rates
-Negative for private hospitals, albeit, difficult to implement

Sensex Today | Market at 1 PM

The Sensex was up 1,054.77 points or 1.45 percent at 73,555.07, and the Nifty was up 317.20 points or 1.44 percent at 22,300.00. About 2228 shares advanced, 1001 shares declined, and 78 shares unchanged.

The public issue of Bharat Highways Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) recorded 100 percent subscription on March 1, the last day of bidding, as investors bought 10.57 crore units against an offer size of 10.3 crore units.

Institutional investors picked up 2 percent of the allotted quota of 5.6 crore shares. Individual investors and domestic institutional investors are yet to subscribe to the issue.

The infrastructure investment trust, which has a portfolio of seven road assets launched, aims to raise Rs 2,500 crore. The public offer comprises only a fresh issue and the price band for the offer has been fixed at Rs 98-100 per unit.

Sensex Today | Jefferies View On Hospitals

-Recent PIL filed in SC to direct Central Government to determine rates chargeable to patients
-Until such rates are notified, petition requests using CGHS rates in the interim
-Believe litigation is at an early stage
-Unlikely to result in any near-term adverse outcome
-Adverse newsflow is not uncommon for the sector and has not always come into effect
-See price weakness as a buying opportunity

Sensex Today | Nifty Bank index up 2 percnet, reclaims 47,000

Rallis India said the board has appointed Gyanendra Shukla as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company for 5 years with effect from April 1, 2024 to take over from Sanjiv Lal on completion of his term on March 31, 2024.

HG Infra Engineering Limited has been declared as L-1 bidder by East Central Railway for construction of double line track (3rd & 4th line) formation including earth work, blanketing, minor bridges, major bridges, electrification works and other miscellaneous works for 32.5 T axle load including Electrical TRD (2x25 KV) in Gaya-Son Nagar section (in between DFCC CH:225.300 (IR CH:475.200) to DFCC CH:292.175 (IR CH:542.075)) in DDU Division of East Central Railway in the state of Bihar.

Servotech Power Systems has bagged an order of 1400 DC fast EV chargers from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and other EV charger OEMs. The total order is valued at 111 crores and involves two charger variants of 60 kW and 120 kW.

-Upgrade to buy, target Rs 635 per share
-Following a sharp correction, believe concern is overdone
-Investor feedback: multiple concerns
-Novelis IPO: value unlocking or building a war chest?
-Bear case analyses suggests further 10-12% downside from current levels
-Company’s existing businesses remain strong with gradual improvement in profitability
-Clarity on the use of cash and growth projects are key to watch for

TVS Motor Company's subsidiary TVS Motor (Singapore) Pte Ltd have paid 2 million euro and initiated the acquisition of 8,000 equity shares in Killwatt GmbH. Post the acquisition, the shareholding of TVS Motor (Singapore) in Killwatt GmbH will be increased from 39.28% to 49% via newly issued shares of Killwatt GmbH.

MOIL has raise prices of ferro grades with manganese content below Mn-44% by 5% on the prevailing prices with effect from March 1 for March 2024.

Sensex Today | Nifty Bank extends gains; up 1.7 percent

Pidilite Industries said the board approved the appointment of Sudhanshu Vats as Managing Director designate, and Kavinder Singh as Executive Director and Joint Managing Director designate. They will take charge as Managing Director and Joint Managing Director, from April 2025, after the completion of term of the current Managing Director, Bharat Puri.

Sensex Today | Market at 12 PM

The Sensex was up 995.74 points or 1.37 percent at 73,496.04, and the Nifty was up 301.60 points or 1.37 percent at 22,284.40. About 2205 shares advanced, 997 shares declined, and 77 shares unchanged.

Sensex Today | BSE Power index up 1 percent led by CG Power, NHPC, Adani Green Energy

MPS's subsidiary MPS North America LLC has acquired AJE LLC, including its subsidiary American Journal Online (Beijing) Information Consulting. The company enters into the B2C marketplace and significantly enhances its AI capabilities.

Sensex Hits Fresh All-Time High of 73,574.02

Vodafone Idea Ltd, which is looking to raise Rs 45,000 crore in equity and debt, has secured equity commitments from anchor investors exceeding $1 billion (Rs 8200 crore), people familiar with the development said.

The possible tying up of funds from a clutch of investors, the identities of whom could not be immediately ascertained, marks a crucial step forward for the telecom giant as it navigates its financial restructuring.

Vodafone Idea has informally engaged a group of investment banks to devise efficient funding structures for the planned fundraising, the people said, requesting anonymity. The company, according to them, is looking to optimize its fundraising strategy by exploring various avenues, including the preferred method of equity fundraising. Options under consideration include a rights issue, preferential allotment, or a follow-on public offering.

“A preferential allotment will allow it to raise funding through a hybrid structure such as warrants, a rights issue or FPO will allow Vodafone Idea to price the new shares at a level deemed reasonable by the incoming investors as well existing shareholders,” one of the people cited above, a banker, said.

Societe Generale has bought 3,00,837 equity shares in Thinkink Picturez at an average price of Rs 78.65 per share, and BofA Securities Europe SA purchased 3,07,654 equity shares at an average price of Rs 78.84 per share. Sunflower Broking picked 3 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 78.52 per share, and Yashwantbhai A Thakker 3.5 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 79.05 per share.

Oil prices edged up on Friday and were set to end the week modestly higher as markets awaited an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter amid differing demand indicators key consumers U.S. and China. Brent futures for May climbed 27 cents, or 0.33%, to $82.18 a barrel by 0403 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April rose 20 cents, or 0.26%, to $78.46. READ MORE

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will conduct a special live trading session on March 2, 2024, involving an intraday switchover to a disaster recovery (DR) site. The session aims to facilitate the transition from the primary site (PR) to the disaster recovery site, a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) circular said. READ MORE

Promoter Sasikala Raghupathy sold the remaining personal shareholding of 30,65,946 equity shares of BGR Energy Systems (equivalent to 4.2% of paid up equity) via open market transactions at an average price of Rs 50.9 per share. With this, Sasikala exited BGR by offloading in total 1,73,14,450 equity shares (equivalent to 23.99% of paid up equity) since February 21.

Larsen & Toubro has announced commissioning its first indigenously manufactured electrolyser at the green hydrogen plant at A M Naik Heavy Engineering Complex in Hazira, Gujarat.

The Securities Issue Committee of the Board of Directors of Borosil Renewables at its meeting held on March 01, 2024, has approved the fund raising by the Company of an amount not exceeding Rs 500 crores, subject to receipt of necessary statutory / regulatory approvals.

Sensex Today | BSE Oil & Gas index rose nearly 2 percent led by Linde India, BPCL, IOC

NCC Limited has received two new orders worth Rs 1476.01 crores (Excluding GST) in the month of February'2024. Out of them, one order of Rs 1303.70 Crores is related to Transportation Division and another of Rs 172.31. crores is related to Building Division.

Tata Investment Corporation shares gained 4 percent in the early trade on March 1, a day after the Union Cabinet approved three semiconductor plant proposals, two of which would be set up by Tata group.

Two of the three plants will be built in Gujarat and one in Assam at an estimated cost of Rs 1.26 lakh crore. The Tata group will set up plants in Gujarat and Assam, while Murugappa Group-owned CG Power will set up a plant in Gujarat. The construction of the three plants will begin within 100 days, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Tata Investment Corporation is an NBFC that invests in the diversified portfolios of various companies, including those of the Tata group. Read More