Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty flat amid volatility; metal, FMCG gain, oil & gas, auto, banks drag

Markets traded dull and ended almost unchanged on the weekly expiry day. After the flat start, the Nifty oscillated in a narrow range and finally settled at 22,493.55 level. Meanwhile, a mixed trend continued on the sectoral front which kept the participants occupied wherein metal and FMCG posted strong gains while banking, auto and energy closed in red. The broader indices witnessed some respite after the recent fall and ended marginally higher.

We feel intermediate breathers are healthy as long as we do not see any major cut in the index. However, traders shouldn’t get carried away with the prevailing trend in the benchmark and stay focused on stock selection and risk management. Besides, we reiterate our preference for index majors and large midcaps over the smallcap counters.

Although markets once again hit new highs, it moved sideways intra-day in lacklustre trades before eking out modest gains on the back of selective buying in metals, capital goods and telecom stocks. However, weakness in banking, oil & gas and auto stocks tempered the gains.

The Nifty stayed below the psychological 22,500 mark, with call writers at the 22,500 strikes significantly increasing their positions. On the downside, support is expected to hold at 22,400. The buy-on-dips strategy is likely to persist as long as it remains above 22,400. On the upside, a decisive move above 22,500 could trigger buying interest in the market, potentially pushing the index towards 22,700 in the short term.

Today, Bank Nifty faced resistance at the 48,000 level, finding support at 47,750. Nevertheless, the weekly closure indicates a resilient bullish momentum, with pivotal support identified at 47,500 and resistance at 48,200. A conclusive breach above the 48,200 threshold, confirmed by a closing basis, could catalyze a bullish upswing towards levels of 48,500 and 48,800.

Equity benchmark indices edged higher after hitting a record high amid a firm trend in the US market and FII inflows. Moreover, faster than expected economic growth for the current fiscal year boosted sentiments for metal and capital goods stocks. Meanwhile, global indices exhibited mixed sentiments, driven by the Fed’s signals of hope for a potential rate cut this year. Further clarity on the labour market, anticipated with the release of non-farm payroll data on Friday, will offer insights into potential rate adjustments.

The rupee exhibited strength, gaining 0.10rs to reach 82.76, supported by a weak dollar trading below 103.20$. Additionally, crude prices experienced a slight decline, dropping by 1.15%. With the basing range seemingly broken in USDINR on the lower end, the rupee appears poised to continue its positive momentum, potentially targeting the 82.50 zones ahead.

Market at record high
Sensex & Nifty up 0.5% each, Nifty Bank up 1%, Midcap index down 0.2%

The Nifty opened on a flat note and consolidated during the day. It closed in the marginally in the green up ~19 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty held on to the gains and consolidated before an extended weekend. The consolidation is a brief pause in the overall uptrend, and we expect the up move to resume during the coming week.

In the case of dip towards, 22390 – 22340 it should be used as a buying opportunity as key hourly moving averages are placed in this range and can attract buying interest. On the upside, 22570 – 22600 shall act as an immediate hurdle zone from short term perspective.

Bank Nifty witnessed some profit booking and traded within the range 47442 – 48161 of the previous trading session. It is steadily moving towards its support zone of 47680 – 47560 which can act as a potential trend resumption area and hence dips towards the support zone should be used as a buying opportunity.

Banking sector is likely to witness some challenges in coming period. The liquidity crunch may create obstacles for credit growth. The intense deposit competition may keep the cost to income elevated. The net interest margin improvement is subjected to policy rate cuts. Hence, we expect the return ratio numbers to stay in range.

Furthermore, the contained slippages has kept the asset quality in check. Some extra systemic pressure can elevate the slippages from unsecured book.

Nevertheless, we expect the expected worrisome are in price and overall sector to preform well as per as stock price is concerned.

Indian rupee ended higher at 82.78 per dollar versus previous close of 82.83.

Indian benchmark indices ended on a flat note in the volatile session on March 7 after hitting record highs at the opening trade.

At close, the Sensex was up 33.40 points or 0.05 percent at 74,119.39, and the Nifty was up 19.50 points or 0.09 percent at 22,493.50. About 2071 shares advanced, 1588 shares declined, and 111 shares unchanged.

Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Tata Consumer, Tata Motors and JSW Steel were among the top Nifty gainers, while losers were M&M, BPCL, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

Among sectors, bank, oil & gas, auto, realty ended in the red, while metal, capital goods, media and FMCG up 1-2.5 percent each.

The BSE midcap index added 0.3 percent and smallcap index rose 0.7 percent.

The yen headed on Thursday for its biggest daily rally versus the dollar this year, driven by growing speculation that the Bank of Japan could finally raise rates this month, while the euro steadied ahead of a European Central Bank meeting.

The Japanese currency rallied by as much as 1.1% against the dollar, the most in a day since mid-December, and made gains against the euro and sterling.

The euro was last 1% lower at 161.22 yen, while the pound fell 0.8% to 188.54 yen.

The yen headed on Thursday for its biggest daily rally versus the dollar this year, driven by growing speculation that the Bank of Japan could finally raise rates this month, while the euro steadied ahead of a European Central Bank meeting.

The Japanese currency rallied by as much as 1.1% against the dollar, the most in a day since mid-December, and made gains against the euro and sterling.

The euro was last 1% lower at 161.22 yen, while the pound fell 0.8% to 188.54 yen.

-Buy rating, target is raised to Rs 3,130 per share
-Valuation reflects transition from a mall owner to a diversified & growth-oriented company
-Stabilisation of new malls & office portfolio to drive high double-digit growth

Indian Rupee appreciated by 0.07% on Thursday on weak US Dollar and positive domestic markets. Domestic markets touched fresh all-time highs. FII inflows also supported the Rupee. US Dollar declined after Fed Chair, Jerome Powell said that the US central bank expects to cut interest rates later this year and would approach carefully. He also said that more confidence is needed that inflation will sustain below 2% before cutting interest rates.

Disappointing economic data from US also weighed on Dollar. US ADP non-farm payrolls increased by 140,000 in February 2024 vs forecast of 150,000. US JOLTS job openings increased by 886,000 in February 2024 vs forecast of 880,000. However, surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains.

We expect Rupee to trade with a positive bias on weak US Dollar and positive tone in the domestic markets. However, weak Asian and European markets and concerns over global economic slowdown may cap sharp upside.

Traders may take cues from weekly unemployment claims and trade balance data from US. Investors may also take cues from the second day of Fed Chair, Jerome Powell’s testimony. Investors will also watch out for ECB’s monetary policy meeting the ECB President’s speech for further guidance. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.50 to Rs 83.

Sensex Today | Nifty Media index up nearly 3 percent supported by DB Corp, Network 18 Media & Investments, Zee Entertainment Enterprises

-Buy rating, target is raised to Rs 257 per share
-Significant order book accretion underway
-FY24 marks a shift in annual order inflow
-Order pipeline adds to growth comfort

Sensex Today | BSE oil & Gas index down 1 percent dragged by BPCL, IOC, Reliance Industries

Stock Market LIVE Updates | JPMorgan View On Metals

-Overweight call on JSW Steel, target at Rs 980 per share
-Analysis suggests ongoing expansions from JSW & Tata Steel should be value accretive
-Expect international iron ore prices to decline in FY25/26
-Least preferred stock is NMDC, underweight call, target at Rs 195 per share
-Overweight on Hindalco, target at Rs 600 per share
-Believe margin should improve across Novelis/India
-BayMinette expansion is a multi-decadal opportunity for Hindalco in growing US market
 

SJVN wholly owned subsidiary SJVN Green Energy Limited (“SGEL”) has received Letter of Awards for cumulative 1,352 MW of Solar Power Projects to be developed at various locations in the District of Nashik, Solapur, Ahmednagar & Pune Districts of Maharashtra under the Mukhya Mantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana.

Broking house believe that Zydus Lifesciences will improve its sales and earnings at 10.6% and 21.3% CAGR over FY23-FY26E (vs earlier 10.2% and 18.3% CAGR growth estimates respectively), given the strong performance it has been able to exhibit in India market in Q4FY24E (Jan 24 and Feb 24) and the strong growth potential it has in the US market, driven by recent product launches.

KRChoksey raise the target price on Zydus Lifesciences to Rs 1,106/share (prev: Rs 913) as also raise the valuation multiple by 12% to ~27.5x (vs. earlier multiple of ~24.5x), on FY26E EPS of Rs. 40.2 (earlier: Rs. 37.3).

And accordingly upgrade rating on Zydus Lifesciences from ACCUMULATE to BUY as the target price implies 15.0% upside from its CMP.

It believe, stronger than anticipated growth in India markets driven by continued strong growth in chronic portfolio as well as in NCEs such as Saroglitzar, Oxemia, and Ujvira and more than anticipated growth in the US markets on the back of volumes growth in the base portfolio as well as new launches such as Zituvio and Transdermal products, should support higher profitable growth estimated over FY23-FY26E.

-Initiate coverage with buy, target at Rs 645 per share
-There are several levers for strong growth
-Looking to enter new segments such as lighting, aerospace and healthcare
-Forecast a 22 percent CAGR for the industry in the next couple of decades
-Margin & return trajectory key items to watch

Sensex Today | BSE FMCG Index up 1 percent supported by Andrew Yule and Company, Radico Khaitan, TATA Consumer Products

-Upgrade to buy, target at Rs 1,660 per share
-Risk rewards now favourable, suggest a gradual accumulation
-Tech transformation near completion
-Expect growth to pick up & margin expected to be steady

UPL's subsidiary UPL Corporation, Mauritius and Masarrah Investment Company (MIC) entered into a share subscription agreement to set up a manufacturing complex in Saudi Arabia for the production of phosphate, cyanide and chlorine value added products to create a diversified export portfolio.

UPL Corporation's subsidiary UPL Arabia will issue new shares to UPL Corp and MIC. Post issuance of new shares, UPL Corp will hold 85% shareholding and MIC will hold 15% shareholding in UPL Arabia.

Sensex Today | Market at 2 PM

The Sensex was up 86.70 points or 0.12 percent at 74,172.69, and the Nifty was up 41.30 points or 0.18 percent at 22,515.30. About 2009 shares advanced, 1238 shares declined, and 66 shares unchanged.

Sensex Today | BSE Capital Goods index up 1 percent supported by Suzlon Energy, KPIL, Carborundum Universal

OnMobile Global has appointed Francois Charles Siroi, executive Chairman as CEO and re-designated as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, with effect from March 7. Sanjay Baweja resigned from the role of Global Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the company with effect from March 6 due to personal reasons.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (Mahavitaran), on 7" March, 2024 at Mumbai, for providing of credit of up to Rs 5000 crore for the largest feeder level solarization scheme in India under PM-KUSUM Scheme.

Sensex Today | BSE Bank index down 0.3 percent dragged by Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank

Gold prices surged to a record high on Thursday, poised for their seventh consecutive daily rise, led by sluggish U.S. economic data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's indications of potential rate cuts in the coming months should inflation alleviate.

Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,155.42 per ounce. U.S. gold futures added 0.2% to $2,163.10.

Bullion continued its record-breaking rally, reaching an all-time high of $2,161.09 earlier in the session and looked set for its longest intra-day winning streak since at least November 2021.

RBI has classified Tata Sons as an upper layer NBFC last year, which makes it mandatory for the company to list itself on the exchanges by Sep-25

We believe that this event could likely lead to the simplification of the complicated group holding structure of the Tata Group and enable some of the listed holding companies to liquidate its holding within the giant parent conglomerate.

Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power and Indian Hotels hold ownership in Tata Sons.

LTIMindtree informed that Mr. Vinit Teredesai, Chief Financial Officer has tendered his resignation today to explore professional opportunities outside the L&T Group and his last working day would be April 24, 2024 (close of business hours).

Upon recommendation of Nomination & Remuneration Committee and Audit Committee, the Board of Directors have appointed Mr. Vipul Chandra as Chief Financial Officer with effect from April 25, 2024.

Mr. Vipul Chandra is currently Head of Treasury at Larsen & Toubro, the parent company.

Tata Chemicals shares zoomed around 12 percent in morning deals on March 7 to hit a 52-week high of Rs 1,349, extending gains to the sixth consecutive session.

The stock has been rallying since March 1 after the company said that Fitch Ratings affirmed its Long Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at BB+.

The ratings agency has also revised the outlook to “stable” from “positive”.

The Finance Committee of Jubilant Ingrevia has approved the proposal for investment and also entering into a Power Purchase Agreement and Security Subscription and Shareholders Agreement on 07.03.2024 with O2 Renewable Energy XVIII Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TEQ Green Power XI Private Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of O2 Power SG Pte. Limited, Singapore for acquisition of upto 28% stake for purchase of renewable energy power (‘Electricity’) generated from the Captive Generating Plant.

Cipla subsidiary completes sale of entire shareholding in Wellthy Therapeutics

Cipla: Goldencross Pharma, wholly owned subsidiary of the company, has completed the sale of its entire shareholding in Wellthy Therapeutics for Rs 59.71 lakh, in terms of the definitive agreement executed on March 6.

Oil prices held steady on Thursday, holding onto overnight gains after upbeat Chinese trade data and after U.S. data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in crude inventories and large draws in fuel stocks.

However, expectations that U.S. interest rate cuts could be delayed capped gains.

Brent crude futures slipped 8 cents to $82.88 a barrel by 0736 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures inched down 7 cents to $79.06 a barrel despite China's import and export growth beating estimates.

Sensex Today | BSE Telecom index up 1 percent led by Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), GTL Infra, Tejas Networks

Vedanta is exploring possible legal options, including filing of review petition in the Supreme Court with respect to closure of Copper smelter plant at Thoothukudi. This is as per advice from its legal experts.

Vedanta had filed special leave petition in Supreme Court on April 10, 2023, against the order of Madras HC which had upheld the closure of the copper smelter plant at Thoothukudi. The Supreme Court on February 29 had dismissed the special leave petition filed by the company.

Coforge launched a Gen AI-based autonomous self-service solution called Coforge Orion. The solution harnesses the power of generative AI and orchestrates a seamless customer experience.

This sophisticated platform automates both outbound and inbound calls, allowing it to proactively engage customers, provide intelligent responses to inquiries, and autonomously take necessary actions, exceeding the capabilities of traditional automation.

Sensex Today | BSE Midcap index gained 0.5 percent led by Oracle Financial Services Software, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Solar Industries India

Crude oil outlook remains weak as the incoming US economic data signals economic slowdown with decline in retail sales, contraction in Factory orders and manufacturing index and slowdown in the services activities will further led to fall in industrial demand of oil. On the other hand, China’s think tank sticked to 5% GDP growth for 2024 and lacked big-ticket stimulus plans to prop up the country's struggling economy, which increased concerns that demand growth in the country may lag this year.

The API forecasts another weekly jump in commercial crude oil inventories in US by 423000 barrels, if EIA matched the API forecast that would be 6th straight weekly inflows into the reserve, which should pull back prices towards support of $76. The overall market remains in surplus of 0.75-1 mbpd despite of all the past efforts of output cuts due to Chinese slowdown.

Outlook: WTI April is expected to trade sideways to lower biased for the day in the range of $76-$80. we advise traders to short the rallies if EIA crude inventories jumps along with product inventories later in the US session.

-Buy call, target at Rs 185 per share
-Bank steadily looking to improve risk-adjusted NIM
-Deposit mobilisation is seeing better traction
-Business banking has a healthy tailwind with stronger balance sheets
-Bank has a relatively strong architecture

Persistent Systems announced the launch of SASVA, a pioneering manageable and secure enterprise AI platform leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) and Machine Learning (ML) to accelerate software releases, with faster time-to-market, and improved efficiency.

Singapore telecom operator Singtel said on March 7 that it has sold 0.8 percent equity stake in Bharti Airtel to Rajiv Jain's investment firm GQG Partners, for Rs 5,849 crore. Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading higehr after the block deal.

Around 4.9 crore shares, representing nearly 1 percent stake of the company changed hands in the block deal. Read More

The Committee for Fund Raise of the board of directors of Macrotech Developers, has, at its meeting held today i.e., March 7, 2024 approved the allotment of 2,98,89,353 Equity Shares of face value Rs 10 each to eligible qualified institutional buyers at the issue price of Rs 1,098 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 1,088 per equity share) against the floor price of Rs 1,129.48 per equity share, aggregating to Rs 32,818.51 million, pursuant to the Issue.

The company issued shares to HDFC Life, Invesco Fun, Nomura Fund, GQG New World Fund, Stitching Depository via QIP.

Sensex Today | Market at 12 PM

The Sensex was up 46.04 points or 0.06 percent at 74,132.03, and the Nifty was up 16.50 points or 0.07 percent at 22,490.50. About 2013 shares advanced, 1171 shares declined, and 72 shares unchanged.

IIFL Finance staged a recovery on March 7, rising 10 percent. The stock fell 35 percent in the last two sessions in the aftermath of RBI's decision to ban the company from issuing gold loans.

The sharp recovery in the stock comes a day after IIFL Finance said that Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa has agreed to provide $200 million liquidity support to the company if it faces any funding crunch after the banking regulator clamped down on its gold loan business. Watsa-backed Fairfax India Holdings Corporation holds stakes in IIFL Finance and other IIFL group companies.

In a statement, Fairfax India said, "The RBI's embargo has raised liquidity concerns amongst the company's investors and lenders. In response to these concerns, Fairfax India has agreed to invest up to $200 million of liquidity support on terms to be mutually agreed upon and subject to applicable laws, including regulatory approvals (if any)." Read More

Shares of Asian Paints gained 0.7 percent at the open on March 7, a day after the company said that its subsidiary had signed agreements with Gujarat Chemical Port Limited (GCPL) to set up ethylene storage and handling facility in Dahej.

In a regulatory filing, Asian Paints (Polymers) (APPPL) had entered into agreements with GCPL to set up an ethylene storage and handling facility in Dahej.

APPPL will be providing a security deposit of Rs 460 crore to GCPL which will be refunded over a period of 17–18 years. This would be in addition to the cost of setting up the VAM and VAE (vinyl acetate ethylene emulsion and vinyl acetate monomer) manufacturing facility of Rs 2,100 crore. Read More

Infosys has renewed its digital innovation partnership with the ATP Tour until 2026. The three-year extension of the partnership will continue to draw on Infosys’ deep expertise in digital technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cloud, which will enrich the fan experience and player performance in professional tennis.

HCLTech and ServiceNow have announced a partnership to deliver new generative AI (GenAI)-led solutions. The offerings will help enable enterprises to adopt ServiceNow’s GenAI capabilities across the business quickly and efficiently.

Around 2.97 crore shares of SBFC Finance, amounting to 2.79 percent equity in the company, changed hands at Rs 87.25 each on March 7. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the buyers and sellers. At 10:40am, the stock was trading at Rs 85.20. READ MORE

Singapore telecom operator Singtel said on March 7 that it has sold 0.8 percent equity stake in Bharti Airtel to Rajiv Jain's investment firm GQG Partners, for Rs 5,849 crore. Shares of Bharti Airtel traded flat in early trade, recouping opening losses, after the block deal. READ MORE

Zydus Life has received Post Application Action Letter from the USFDA for the inspection conducted at the Ahmedabad API facility of Zydus Lifesciences Limited, confirming that the inspected facility has been considered as ready to commercially manufacture and supply the API.

This facility underwent for-cause cGMP surveillance and Pre-Approval Inspection for manufacturing of drug substances Enzylutamide from 14th to 22nd Dec 2023.

-Add call, target at Rs 1,500 per share
-Well-placed to gain market share in gold loans
-Vacuum in NBFC lending space will be beneficial
-Elevated gold prices provide tailwinds despite rise in borrowing costs

Sensex Today | BSE Smallcap index up 0.6 percent led by Force Motors, Rallis India, IIFL Finance