Closing Bell: Nifty around 23,600 on expiry day; Sensex rises 318 pts

Indian equity indices ended on strong note with Nifty at 23,600 on March 27. At close, the Sensex was up 317.93 points or 0.41 percent at 77,606.43, and the Nifty was up 105.10 points or 0.45 percent at 23,591.95.

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Nifty remained sideways throughout the day after a strong opening. Option position buildup also indicated an expiry around 23600. On the daily chart, the index found support near the 100 EMA.

The short term sentiment may remain positive, with a potential move toward 23800 if it sustains above 23600. On the downside, support is placed at 23400.

Markets edged higher on the monthly expiry day, gaining nearly half a percent despite mixed cues. After a flat start, Nifty gradually moved up in the first hour, followed by a range-bound session before closing at the 23,591.95 level, up 0.45%. Sectoral trends remained mixed, with energy and realty emerging as top performers, while auto and pharma ended in the red.

The shift in FII stance, coupled with strength in banking and financial majors and rotational support from other heavyweights, is sustaining the positive sentiment. However, news related to US tariffs continues to trigger occasional volatility. Traders should look past the short-term choppiness during this consolidation phase and focus on selective stock opportunities.

Domestic indices maintained optimism throughout the day, driven by sustained foreign fund inflows and the purchase of blue-chip stocks. However, the 25% tariff on auto imports imposed by Trump has affected auto stocks and raised concerns within the pharma sector. Despite these challenges, the broader market demonstrated resilience, supported by expectations of double-digit earnings growth in FY26, driven by easing inflation and a downward trend in interest rates, which are anticipated to improve domestic fundamentals.

Attention is now focused on the US-India trade meeting, which commenced on Wednesday, aiming to provide greater clarity on the bilateral trade agreement between the two nations.

Today, Indian stock market closed on a strong note, with the Nifty 50 ending at 23,600 and the Sensex rising by approximately 317 points. This uptrend was observed despite initial volatility and concerns over the US tariffs on auto imports, which affected sectors like auto and pharma negatively. The upside in the market can be attributed to several factors, including the return of FIIs as net buyers. Over the past five sessions, FIIs have purchased shares worth over Rs 21,377 crore, marking a significant shift in sentiment after months of net selling.

Additionally, the Nifty's P/E ratio has become more attractive, standing at 21.04 times as of March 25, compared to its five-year average of 24.80 times. This, combined with positive domestic fundamentals and the easing of liquidity conditions, has contributed to the market's resilience and potential for further gains.

After a slow start to the monthly expiry trade, the market saw a strong recovery from lower levels, although the Index later oscillated in a narrow range before ultimately concluding at 23,591.95 with gains of 105.10 points. Except Auto and Pharma, all the sectors ended the trade with gains where PSU Banks and Media were the top performers. In the broader market, a disparity was evident as Midcaps marginally lagged while Smallcaps gained over 1%, outperforming the Frontline Index.

The Index seems to have completed its corrective phase, filling the bullish gap zone and forming a Piercing candlestick pattern. The immediate resistance is at 23,800, and a breakout above this level could propel the Index towards the psychological level of 24,000. On the downside, support is seen at 23,400.

Indian rupee ended marginally lower at 85.78 per dollar on Thursday against Wednesday's close of 85.71.

Indian equity indices ended on strong note with Nifty at 23,600 on March 27.

At close, the Sensex was up 317.93 points or 0.41 percent at 77,606.43, and the Nifty was up 105.10 points or 0.45 percent at 23,591.95. About 1628 shares advanced, 2247 shares declined, and 79 shares unchanged.

Except auto (down 1 percent) and pharma (down 0.4 percent), all other sectoral indices ended in the green with media, oil & gas, realty rose 1 percent each.

BSE Midcap index was up 0.5 percent and Smallcap index rose nearly 1 percent.

Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Life, NTPC were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel.

Kalyani Strategic Systems, wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Forge has entered into a joint venture agreement on Thursday, March 27, 2025, with Duma Engineering Group S.L., for formation of a new joint venture company in Spain.

This joint venture aims to collaborate for developing technology, product platforms and solutions relating to defence products to address Indian, European and certain other export markets.

#1 Potential doubler in three years

#2 Steady execution in adverse market & subdued valuation, setting up base

#3 Building in 11 percent revenue CAGR in FY25-29 vs 24 percent CAGR in FY22-24

#4 Improving ROCE & leaner balance sheet + better market outlook to drive re-rating

#1 Switch India to drive growth, UK to shut down

#2 With no clear visibility on the EV bus market in the UK, cessation of operaions appears to be a step in the right direction

#3 Management mentioned that current loss is GBP 2mn/month

#4 Besides this, further investments will not be required

#5 Estimate total cost of cessation could be Rs 1,100-1,200 crore

#1 Announces a USD 650 mn strategic deal

#2 Should support expectations of a pick-up in revenue growth in FY26, especially in a volatile macro environment

#3 Expect this to be positive for sentiment & support stock price in near-term

#1 GE Aerospace has started delivery of F404-IN20 engines for LCA Mk1A fighter aircrafts to HAL

#2 Delayed delivery of engines has been an overhang on HAL

#3 With the delivery now starting, overhang has been lifted

#4 HAL continues to have a large opportunity set & enjoys almost a monopoly status

Indian Rupee declined today on surge in crude oil prices and rising Dollar. Importer demand also put pressure on the rupee. However, FII inflows cushioned the downside.

We expect Rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on month end Dollar demand from importers and OMCs. Elevated crude oil prices and a bounceback in the US Dollar may also pressurise the Rupee. However, strong domestic markets and FII inflows may support the rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from final GDP data from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.60 to Rs 86.10.

The Sensex was up 352.86 points or 0.46 percent at 77,641.36, and the Nifty was up 102.00 points or 0.43 percent at 23,588.85. About 1517 shares advanced, 2031 shares declined, and 71 shares unchanged.

#1 Trent leads Asian peers in growth, return profile, and inventory turns

#2 This growth is sustainable, as the integrated back-end allows for quicker fashion-forward style drops

#3 Additionally, new stores through the franchisee route support a strong return profile

#4 Trent boasts Asia’s best retailing metrics

#1 Equity AUM is projected to grow by 55 percent, 12 percent & 18 percent in FY25, FY26 & FY27, respectively

#2 FY26 is anticipated to start on a weaker note in terms of AUM growth

#3 Despite adjustments in commission structures, we factor in a 1 bps decline in overall yields for FY26 & FY27

#4 Consequently, estimate an earnings CAGR of 14 percent over FY25-27

The order is being valued at Rs 23.6 billion BSNL order

The order that is valued at Rs 1.52 billion is for gun simulator.

#1 Near-term stabilisation to result in healthy growth ahead

#2 Company may report near-term compression in NIM following a 200bp reduction in incremental lending yields since Nov’24.

#3 4QFY25 will be first quarter in which full impact of lower yields will be visible on NIMS

#4 Project NIMs of 18.4 percent/17.1 percent in FY26/FY27 vs 19.5 percent in FY25

#1 Hosted JK Cement for meetings in SG

#2 Management highlighted improving outlook on demand, also supporting pricing

#3 It should drive healthy FY25 exit on profitability for company/industry

#4 Management reiterated its plans on steady growth in capacity from 24 MTPA to 30 MTPA by FY26 End & 50 MTPA by 2030

#5 Company is amid executing cost saving projects across power/fuel/ freight which would translate to Rs 150/t savings over FY24-FY27

#6 JK Cement remains top mid cap pick

Newgen Software Technologies has accepted the Award Letter from the customer for Enterprise Content Management Solution (ECM). The aggregate value of the aforesaid Award is USD 1,285,074 inclusive taxes.

The company's subsidiary TVS Motor (Singapore) Pte has acquired an additional 30% stake in EBCO from its existing shareholder for GBP 60,000. With this, EBCO has become a wholly owned subsidiary of TVS Motor (Singapore) and the company.

#1 Adani Ports reiterated its EBITDA guidance of Rs 18,800-18,900 crore for FY25

#2 Adani Ports emphasised its ambition to become an integrated end-to-end logistics svc provider

#3 View Adani Ports as a long-term proxy for India’s trade & infrastructure growth

Bharti Airtel has landed the 2Africa Pearls cable in the country, connecting India to Africa, and Europe via the Middle East.

Airtel is the landing partner for the 2Africa Pearls cable in India. This is in partnership with the 2Africa Pearls’ investors - center3 and Meta.

The bond allotment committee in their meeting held today approved the raising of bonds as unsecured, taxable, redeemable, non-convertible, non -cumulative NCDs of face value of Rs 1,00,000 each (Series-G 2024) aggregating up to Rs 2,000 crore on Private Placement basis.

A Board meeting is scheduled for March 31 to consider the proposal of raising funds by issuing debt securities, including non-convertible debentures, within the overall approved borrowing limits.

Bank of India has declared Rolta India as a fraud. The company's NPA amount is Rs 616.3 crore, as announced by the bank.

Bank of India, the IBU Gift City Branch has executed the facility agreement for borrowing JPY 15 billion (equivalent to $100 million) for on-lending and other general corporate purposes at overseas branches.

The Board has approved the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as CEO – Aluminium Business and has designated him as Senior Management Personnel at Vedanta, for three years, effective March 26. He joins Vedanta Aluminium from Tata Steel.

Dixon Technologies (India) has entered into a binding term sheet with Signify Innovations India to form a joint venture for carrying out the OEM business of lighting products and accessories, subject to signing of definitive agreements, receipt of applicable statutory approvals and completion of customary conditions precedent.

The Board has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 4.50 per share for the financial year 2024-25.

The company has signed a 5-year contract with Shell Energy India for the supply of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG). The total quantity to be purchased under the agreement will be 1,23,21,200 MMBtu.

The company has completed the trial run of Unit 3 (200 MW) of the Parbati II HE project (4x200 MW) in Himachal Pradesh.

The Board has approved the appointment of Rajiv Kumar as CEO – Aluminium Business and has designated him as Senior Management Personnel at Vedanta, for three years, effective March 26. He joins Vedanta Aluminium from Tata Steel.

The optical and digital solutions company announced its partnership with Wyre to support the development of their expansive multigigabit fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in Belgium.

Bangladesh says Adani restored power supply as payments resume.

Bharat Forge share 60 percent of Rs 69 billion India defense contract.

Steel Strips Wheels' products are not covered by the tariffs and it sees no major impact from tariffs on auto parts.

The Sensex was up 384.81 points or 0.50 percent at 77,673.31, and the Nifty was up 112.55 points or 0.48 percent at 23,599.40. About 1749 shares advanced, 1573 shares declined, and 106 shares unchanged.

Coforge has enhanced its collaboration with Microsoft to bring AI- integrated developer productivity solutions to its engineering services including legacy application modernization and for new code development for clients.

The company and Cowtown Infotech Services (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company) have settled the arbitration with mutual consent.

The Income Tax Department has issued an assessment order to the bank, demanding tax, including applicable interest, amounting to Rs 119.38 crore on disallowances of certain expenditures/deductions claimed, for the Assessment Year 2023-24.

Asian equities dropped after President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on US auto imports, prompting investors to pare bets on riskier investments due to concerns about growth in the world’s largest economy.

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 75 lakh on HDFC Bank for non-compliance with certain directions issued by the RBI on Know Your Customer.

The company has infused $9 million as equity in IHOCO BV, its wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands. The investment amount will be used by IHOCO BV to further invest in its subsidiary United Overseas Holding Inc in the USA to repay its debt and for other operational purposes.

The company sold equity shares of its 10 subsidiaries for Rs 474.26 crore to its wholly owned subsidiary company Torrent Green Energy.

#1 Trent leads Asian peers in growth, return profile, and inventory turns

#2 This growth is sustainable, as the integrated back-end allows for quicker fashion-forward style drops

#3 Additionally, new stores through the franchisee route support a strong return profile

#4 Trent boasts Asia’s best retailing metrics

The Sensex was up 411.81 points or 0.53 percent at 77,700.31, and the Nifty was up 115.90 points or 0.49 percent at 23,602.75. About 1551 shares advanced, 1574 shares declined, and 126 shares unchanged.

The Board has appointed Sujit Kumar Pattanaik as Business Controller – India & Chief Financial Officer of the company, effective April 1. However, Avishrant Keshava has resigned as Business Controller – India & CFO of the company, effective March 31, due to organizational changes. He will continue to serve as a Whole-time Director of the company.

The company will invest up to Rs 250 crore in its three wholly owned overseas subsidiaries - TVS Logistics Investment UK, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Pte Ltd, Singapore, and TVS Logistics Investments USA Inc, USA.

The company board appointed R Vaidhyanathan as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company with effect from April 1, 2025.

Alpha Wave Ventures II, LP has invested $100 million for a 3.51% stake in Advanta Enterprises through a primary investment. The company sold an 8.93% stake (post-primary investment) in Advanta Enterprises to Alpha Wave for $250 million.