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

Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

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.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

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.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities

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.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

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.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst, LKP Securities

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

Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

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.

Ajit Kabi, Research Analyst at LKP Securities

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.

Rupee Close:

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

Market Close: 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.

Stock Marke LIVE Updates | MERC approves power tariff hike for Tata Power

Sensex Today | Yen fired up by speculation of imminent BOJ policy shift

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.

Sensex Today | Yen fired up by speculation of imminent BOJ policy shift

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.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | HSBC View On Phoenix Mills

-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

MCX should grow at 60-70%: Amit Jeswani, Stallion Asset On CNBC-TV18.

CBI conducts searches at 62 locations in connection with Rs 820 crore IMPS scam in UCO Bank: PTI

Sensex Today | Anuj Choudhary Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

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.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | NLC India Non-retail Portion OFS Fully Subscribed

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

Stock Market LIVE Updates | UBS View On Bharat Electronics

-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
 

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Morgan Stanley overweight on Cyient, target cut to Rs 2,450 per share

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Morgan Stanley keeps overweight rating on Coforge, target raised to Rs 7,450 per share

Sensex Today | ​India to allow additional imports of petcoke for aluminum making

Stock Market LIVE Updates | SJVN gets Letter of Awards for cumulative 1,352 MW of Solar Power Projects

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.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | KRChoksey View on Zydus Lifesciences

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.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | CLSA View On Syrma SGS Technology

-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

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Dredging Corporation of India Limited & BEML sign MOU for Indigenous Design, Development & Manufacturing of spares for Dredgers & Joint Development of manufacturing of Dredger.

1.01 million shares of Coal India traded in a bunch: Bloomberg

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

Stock Market LIVE Updates | DAM Cap View On Aavas Financiers

-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

Sensex Today | Morgan Stanley overweight on TCS, target raised to Rs 4,600 per share

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Axis Bank raises Rs 3851 crore via bonds at 7.64% coupon rate

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Globesecure Tech approves raising Rs 49 crore via rights issue

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Reserve Bank of India and Bank Indonesia sign MoU to Promote Use of Local Currencies for Bilateral Transactions

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Tata Motors increases prices of commercial vehicles upto 2% from April

Stock Market LIVE Updates | UPL's Mauritius subsidiary enters into share subscription agreement with MIC

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 | Zee Entertainment Enterprises at day's high

Sensex Today | European Markets trade lower

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