Closing Bell: Nifty ends around 17,100, Sensex up 346 points; all sectors in the green

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities 

Despite some hiccups, markets staged a smart rebound as investors placed bullish bets on the day of current month derivative expiry. Although there is no major change in global market sentiment, foreign investors turning net buyers of domestic equities in recent sessions has helped improve the overall mood.

Technically, after the breakout of the 17,050 range, the positive momentum intensified. A promising reversal formation and long bullish candle on daily charts is indicating further uptrend from the current levels.

For the bulls, 17,000 would act as a trend decider level and above the same, the index could move up to 17,200-17,250. On the flip side, below 17,000 the uptrend would be vulnerable.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities

Nifty medium setup remains positive with buying on dips advisable. For the short term as well, we are currently seeing weekly support placed at 16,800 levels - on the higher side 17,500/17,700 is expected.

Expect some further consolidation before the index witnesses a direction move. Energy and Banking stocks look attractive while underperformance is seen in the auto and BFSI space.

Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

Nifty witnessed a trending day of trade today. It opened on a positive note and continued to inch higher throughout the day to close the day on a strong note up ~130 points. On the daily charts, we can observe that the narrow range of the previous couple of trading sessions has been broken on the upside. Indicating resumption of up move after a brief pause.

The daily and hourly momentum indicator has a positive crossover which is a buy signal. Thus, both price and momentum indicator is suggesting continuation of the positive momentum over the next few trading sessions.

On the upside initial resistance is placed at 17,207 and beyond that it can stretch higher till 17,500 levels. The crucial support zone is placed at 16,940 - 16,910.

Alert: JSW Energy is expected to announce a critical strategic business development later today.

JSW Energy shares ended at Rs 237.10, up Rs 14.90, or 6.71 percent on the BSE.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The home market is being impelled to stay non-sticky in both directions by the continuous instability in the international market. The domestic market's favourable ending was supported by a significant upswing in both the US and European markets.

This volatility is expected to continue until the global banking system gets fully recovered from the turmoil, along with a confirmation of the Fed's decision to pause rate hikes.

Rupee Close:

Indian rupee ended 16 paise lower at 82.35 per dollar against previous close of 82.19.

Market Close:

Benchmark indices ended higher on March 29 with Nifty around 17,100.

At close, the Sensex was up 346.37 points or 0.60% at 57,960.09, and the Nifty was up 129 points or 0.76% at 17,080.70. About 2139 shares advanced, 1288 shares declined, and 110 shares unchanged.

Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, Eicher Motors and HCL Technologies were among the biggest gainers on the Nifty, while losers were UPL, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints.

Among sectors, auto, FMCG, PSU Bank, capital goods, realty and metal indices up 1-3 percent.

The BSE midcap and the smallcap indices added 1.5 percent each.

JPMorgan View On Bajaj Auto 

-Overweight call, target Rs 4,400 per share
-Bull Case: 41 percent upside; bear case: 12 percent downside
-See likely bottoming of exports & potential recovery from Q2FY24
-See EV volume ramp up in both 2-W & 3-W
-Expect margin to improve due to better overall mix
-Investors see concerns around timing of these catalysts, especially exports recovery

Morgan Stanley View On ITC 

-Overweight call, target Rs 415 per share
-See suggestions of a Rs 0.5/stick(3 percent hike) price hike in gold flake KSFT segment
-Observe some price interventions in Bristol brand of a similar nature
-Current hike implies a 1 percent price hike on a weighted average portfolio level
-Hikes are still getting implemented in various markets

ITC was quoting at Rs 382.95, up Rs 3.35, or 0.88 percent.

DB Corp appoints Lalit Jain as Chief Financial Officer

DB Corp has appointed Lalit Jain as Chief Financial Officer with effect from April 1, 2023 after Pradyumna Mishra retired as the Group Chief Financial Officer on March 31, 2023.

DB Corp was quoting at Rs 96.76, up Rs 1.06, or 1.11 percent on the BSE.

IFCI board approves preferential issue worth Rs 400 crore

IFCI board has given its approval for preferential issue of equity share capital for FY23, worth Rs 400 crore to the Government of India.

Market at 3 PM

Benchmark indices were trading firm in the final hour of the trading with Nifty around 17,000.

The Sensex was up 228.63 points or 0.40% at 57,842.35, and the Nifty was up 94.80 points or 0.56% at 17,046.50. About 2022 shares advanced, 1255 shares declined, and 91 shares unchanged.

REC transfers entire shareholding in Khavda II·A Transmission to Adani Transmission

REC's subsidiary REC Power Development & Consultancy has transferred entire shareholding in Khavda II-A Transmission Limited, at par value along with all its assets and liabilities, to Adani Transmission.

Adani Transmission is the successful bidder selected through tariff based competitive bidding process for 'transmission scheme for evacuation of 4.5 GW RE injection at Khavda P.S. under Phase-II - Part A.

REC was quoting at Rs 115.55, up Rs 1.45, or 1.27 percent and Adani Transmission was quoting at Rs 1,001.30, down Rs 14.45, or 1.42 percent.

Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

Indian Rupee depreciated today amid strong Dollar and surge in crude oil prices. However, positive domestic markets capped sharp gains. Dollar gained after Fed official Michael Barr said that the US central bank still has room to keep raising interest rates to fight inflation, raising expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve. Upbeat forward looking data also supported the greenback. US CB consumer confidence improved to 104.2 in March 2023 topping forecast of 101 and a reading of 103.4 in February 2023.

We expect Indian Rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on strong Dollar and month end Dollar demand from OMCs. However, improved global risk sentiments on fading concerns over banking turmoil in US and Europe may support risk assets. Traders may remain cautious ahead of pending home sales data from US which is expected weaker than previous month. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 81.80 to Rs 82.80 in the near sterm.

Inox Wind Energy to sell wind energy business

Inox Wind Energy has received board approval for approved the sale of wind energy business, to its holding company, Inox Leasing and Finance, by way of slump sale through business transfer agreement, for Rs 17 crore. Inox Leasing and Finance currently holds 51.82% shares in Inox Wind Energy.

Inox Wind Energy was quoting at Rs 1,079.65, down Rs 7.40, or 0.68 percent.

Zenrin offloads Rs 80 crore shares in MapmyIndia

Foreign firm Zenrin Co Ltd has sold 8 lakh shares or 1.49% stake in C E Info Systems via open market transactions at an average price of Rs 1,000.05 per share, which amounted to Rs 80 crore. Zenrin held 6.16% stake in C E Info Systems as of December 2022.

C. E. Info Systems (MapmyIndia) was quoting at Rs 999.00, up Rs 4.15, or 0.42 percent.

ICRA, Kotak expect RBI to raise rates by 25 bps

Rating firm ICRA expects the Reserve Bank of India to raise repo by 25 basis points in its next policy. Thereafter, ICRA believes that the MPC should pause through the remainder of FY2024, and assess the transmission of policy tightening as well as the evolving risks to food inflation.

Recently, Kotak Institutional Equities said that it anticipates a 25 bps hike in the upcoming policy, followed by a CRR cut of 50 bps in mid-FY2024 to ease liquidity.

Kotak said that it expects RBI will take a more balanced approach in managing inflationary pressures, considering the challenges posed by global financial markets and both domestic and global factors.

Developed market central banks are likely to be cautious about rate hike cycles due to the visible signs of stress in the financial sector, which could lead to secular stagnation if prolonged. While the RBI has taken a hawkish stance and expressed concerns about core inflation in its recent policy, Kotak Institutional Equities believes that a premature pause could confuse inflation pressures and financial sector risks.

Steve Brice of Standard Chartered told CNBC-TV18 that it is time to be cautious now in equity markets. He also said:

-Heading towards a recession in the US

-Risk related to banking sector has diminished in last one week

-Fundamentals have been good for the Chinese market post re-opening

-We are not bearish onthe Indian market

-Underweight on equities,prefer China over India

Netweb Tech files draft IPO papers with SEBI

Netweb Technologies India Ltd has filed the draft papers with the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise funds through an initial public offering.

The IPO will involve fresh issue of shares worth Rs 275 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 8.50 million shares by the company's existing shareholders and promoters. The OFS will include up to 2.86 million shares by Sanjay Lodha, up to 1.43 million shares each by Navin Lodha, Vivek Lodha, and Niraj Lodha, and up to 1.35 million shares by Ashoka Bajaj Automobiles Pvt Ltd.

Around Rs 32.77 crore from the funds raised from the issue will be used for civil construction of the building for the surface mount technology (SMT) line, interior development, and equipping the new SMT line facility by purchasing necessary equipment and machinery. The company plans to allocate Rs 128 crore for its working capital requirements, and Rs 22.50 crore for repayment of its outstanding debt.

(More to read)

CAD reduction to potentially drive rupee towards 80 a dollar in FY24

According to foreign brokerages, the Indian rupee is likely to gain strength against the US dollar in FY24, primarily due to an improvement in the current account deficit.

Barclays predicts that the rupee will reach 80 against the dollar by March 2024, while BofA Securities anticipates a slightly higher strength of 79.5 by then.

This positive forecast is backed by Barclays' recent revision of its CAD projection for FY24, down to 1.8 percent from 2.3 percent. Similarly, Citi has also lowered its CAD forecast for FY24 to 1.4 percent of the GDP from 2.2 percent.

Sunil Chari, Rossari Biotech On CNBC-TV18:

-See some stability in raw material costs

-Expect FY24 to be agood growth year as export market is offering good opportunities

-Expect margin to continue toimprove hereon

-Will see double-digit revenue growth in FY24

-Export revenue growth will outgrow domestic revenues

-Textile business has bottomed out andis looking up

Brickwork Ratings revises rating of Manappuram Finance to AA from AA+

Brickwork Ratings has revised the rating of the Bank Loan facilities and NCDs of Manappuram Finance Ltd from BWR AA+/Stable to BWR AA/Stable

Manappuram Finance was quoting at Rs 120.20, up Rs 1.45, or 1.22 percent.

Gold retreats as waning banking crisis fears dampen demand

Prices of safe-haven gold dropped on Wednesday as easing fears of a further contagion from the global banking crisis whetted appetite for riskier assets.

Spot gold was trading 0.6 percentlower at $1,961.80 per ounce, as of 0749 GMT, after rising 1percenton Tuesday. USgold futures slipped 0.5percentto $1,963.10.

Dollar steadies in uneasy market calm

The dollar edged up against most major peers on Wednesday, steadying after recent declines, and gaining sharply against the yen which was volatile as the end of the Japanese fiscal year approaches.

The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six peers, gained 0.15 percentto 102.64.

It has fallen for the past two sessions, and is set for a 2.1 percentmonthly fall, a victim of the market ructions induced by problems in the banking industry.

The euro was down 0.1 percenton the day at $1.0834 and sterling dipped a touch to $1.2316, just off the previous day's near two-month intraday high of $1.2348.

India Opportunities Growth Fund - Pinewood Strategy offloads 5 lakh shares in Shilpa Medicare

Foreign portfolio investor India Opportunities Growth Fund Ltd - Pinewood Strategy has sold 5 lakh shares or 0.57% stake in Shilpa Medicare via open market transaction, at an average price of Rs 225.3 per share. The fund had 1.66% stake in the company as of December 2022.

Shilpa Medicare was quoting at Rs 224.65, down Rs 3.95, or 1.73 percent.

Equity Intelligence India buys over half a percent stake in Shalby

Ace investor Porinju Veliyath-owned Equity Intelligence India has bought 6.1 lakh shares or 0.56% stake in Shalby at an average price of Rs 117 per share.

Highdell Investment offloads 2.26% stake in Kalyan Jewellers

Mauritius-based Highdell Investment, owned by New York-based private equity investment firm Warburg Pincus, has sold 2.33 crore equity shares or 2.26 percentshareholding in Kalyan Jewellers India at an average price of Rs 110.04 per share, which amounted to Rs 256.67 crore.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) Large Trade | 127.86 lakh shares (0.46% equity) worth Rs 162.43 crore change hands at an average of Rs 127 per share, reported CNBC-TV18.

BSE Auto index rose 1 percent led by UNO Minda, TVS Motor Company, Eicher Motors

Mawana Sugars plans to sell 40.49-acre non-agricultural land in Ghaziabad

The company has constituted a committee of Independent Directors to to explore the possibility to sell thenon-agricultural land admeasuring 40.493 acres situated at village Bajhera Kalan in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

ZEE, IndusInd Bank reach settlement, deal with Sony to go ahead

Zee Entertainment Enterprises and IndusInd bank have informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that a settlement has been entered today.

As per settlement agreement, payment obligations have been undertaken, which will be paid till 30th June or within 7 days of Sony merger. Certain money has been paid as per the agreement already, lawyers told the NCLAT.

Sony scheme can be considered without this litigation coming in the way of the scheme. IndusInd will now withdraw its objections to Zee's merger scheme with Sony. Agreement also contains a clause on consequences of termination. Tribunal has listed the case on July 3.

Market at 1 PM

Benchmark indices were trading flat in the volatile session.

The Sensex was up 37.47 points or 0.07% at 57,651.19, and the Nifty was up 23.10 points or 0.14% at 16,974.80.About 1891 shares advanced, 1301 shares declined, and 102 shares unchanged.

Asian stocks rally as bank jitters calm, Alibaba lifts mood

Asian shares surged on Wednesday as easing concerns over the banking sector revived risk appetite, while Alibaba's plans to split into six units lifted Chinese tech stocks.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.68% higher, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rising over 2%, buoyed by Alibaba after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate announced its break-up plans.

Alibaba's Hong Kong shares shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. The news lifted investor confidence in the wider Chinese tech sector, with shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc 7% higher, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd jumping 5%.

Fitch says contagion risks loom over two Adani entities

Ratings agency Fitch said two Adani Group subsidiaries are exposed to "heightened contagion risks", possibly affecting their financial flexibility, due to governance weakness at the parent conglomerate and other Adani group companies.

Fitch said that Adani Transmission Ltd and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone are prone to risks, according to a note released late on Tuesday.

Fitch early last month said it had seen no immediate impact on its ratings of Adani Group entities and their securities following short-seller Hindenburg Research's Jan. 24 report on the conglomerate.

Adani Transmission was quoting at Rs 1,006.85, down Rs 8.90, or 0.88 percent and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was quoting at Rs 623.35, up Rs 29.85, or 5.03 percent on the BSE.

Symphony share price declined 8 intraday on March 29 trade as the stock turned ex-date for share buyback.

Promoter picks additional 0.56% stake in Asian Energy Services

Promoter entity Oilmax Energy has acquired additional 2.14 lakh equity shares or 0.56 percentstake in Asian Energy Services, the services provider to energy & minerals sector, at an averge price of Rs 99.4 per share. Last week, on March 23, Oilmax had bought 0.58 percentstake at an average price of Rs 104.84 per share.

Asian Energy Services was quoting at Rs 101.64, up Rs 0.89, or 0.88 percent.

Short Build-up seen in the following stocks

Long Build-up seen in the following stocks

Thyrocare management on CNBC-TV18   

-See a slight pick-up on a small base in COVID testing
-Weekly trending average of COVID testing is 35-40 percent higher, but this is on a small base
-Price realisations have been the same in the past four quarters
-Seeing good traction in H3N2 testing/viral testing
-Adjusted margin is in the 30 percent range
-Wellness segment is more direct-to-consumer and more susceptible to pricing pressures

CRISIL revises outlook on Vedanta's term loans & debentures from stable to negative

Rating agency CRISIL has revised outlook on Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta's term loans and debentures from stable to negative.

The change in outlook reflects the possibility of higher-than-expected financial leverage and lower financial flexibility with reducing ratio of cash surplus to one-year maturities for FY23 and FY24. This is due to increased cash outflow from Vedanta, in the form of dividends, towards large maturing debt obligations at its parent company Vedanta Resources (VRL).

CRISIL reaffirmed the rating “AA” for long term loans and debentures and ‘A1+’ rating on the commercial paper and short-term bank facilities.

Market Updates

Benchmark indices erased all the intraday gains and trading flat amid volatility.

At 12:17 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 45.20 points or 0.08% at 57,568.52, and the Nifty was down 0.70 points or 0.00% at 16,951.About 1871 shares advanced, 1270 shares declined, and 109 shares unchanged.

Ravindra V.Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities

COMEX Gold rose more than 1% on Tuesday and closed at USD 1,973.5 per troy ounce, amid a decline in the US dollar on prospects of a Fed pivot amid the backdrop of recent financial turmoil. On the economic data front, the US Consumer Board expectations index, which measures the short-term outlook, rose to 73 in March, from 70.4 in the previous month, however reading below the 80 level often signals recession within next year.

Still, Federal Reserve officials have been calling for higher rates amid elevated inflation. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said financial stress has increased in recent weeks due to the banking crisis but can be contained with regulatory policies rather than interest rates.

Money markets are expecting Fed to pause rates during the May FOMC meeting, with less than 10 bps of hikes prices in for the same. However, recent ease in banking sector fears and hawkish comments from Fed officials have also brought down rate cut expectations to 50 bps by year end, limiting the upside in bullions. Still, we expect gold prices to stay buoyed on the back of a weak dollar, rising geo-political tensions and prospects of a looming recession.

Macquarie View On Reliance Industries

-Upgrade to neutral from underperform, target at Rs 2,050
-Still see consensus EPS cuts, but now balanced risk-reward
-Forecast +6 percent 2-year net income CAGR for company, consensus is more optimistic at +15 percent
-Could get more constructive on company in a scenario
-See company on a path to delivering on consensus forecast earnings-FCF
-New energy, fintech verticals show evidence of returns accretive growth

Reliance Industries was quoting at Rs 2,213.90, down Rs 34.05, or 1.51 percent on the BSE.

Nifty PSU Bank indx up 1 percent led by Jammu & Kashmir Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India