Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-Day Losing Streak Aided By Bharti Airtel, Banking Stocks

India's stock benchmarks recovered from a negative start and snapped a three-day losing streak aided by gains in oil and gas, metals, energy and telecom stocks, amid expectations of progress in negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegates in Turkey today.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.4% to 57,593.72. The 30-stock gauge shed nearly 1% (equivalent of over 530 points) to below 57,000, before reversing the losses. The NSE Nifty 50 also advanced by similar magnitude to close above 17,222.

The move follows the previous session's decrease of 0.4%. Bharti Airtel Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 3.3%. Today, 32 of 50 shares rose, while 17 fell.

The broader indices underperformed its larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap losing 0.4% and S&P BSE SmallCap shedding over 0.5%. Thirteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced with S&P BSE Power, Bankex ad Energy rising 1%.

The market breadth as skewed in the favour of bears. About 1,178 stocks advanced, 2,331 declined and 155 remained unchanged.

• HCL Technologies has been selected to provide global service desk and on-site support to Novo Nordisk. HCL Tech will implement a multilingual and omnichannel digital workplace solution for Novo Nordisk. It will support over 48,000 end-users in 20 languages, across 58 countries and offer on-site I.T. services in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Shree Cement has started commercial production at its Clinkersation unit in Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

• The facility has a production capacity of 12,000 tonnes per day.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Aster DM Healthcare rose over 11%, the most in seven months, after the company signed a non-binding MoU with Government of Tamil Nadu on Saturday.

• The MoU proposes an investment of Rs 500 crore in hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies in the state.

• With five hospitals in Kerala, Aster's investment in Tamil Nadu is expected to strengthen its presence in Southern region.

• Trading volume on the stock was over seven times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Share price rose above the 200-day simple moving average, indicating potential upward price momentum.

• Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, eight maintains 'buy' and two recommend 'hold'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 24.6%

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

• IndusInd Bank: InCred Earnest Innovation Partners initiated coverage of the stock with a recommendation of 'add'; price target set at Rs 1,250.

• Godrej Consumer: Ambit Capital Pvt initiated coverage of the stock with a recommendation of 'buy'; price target set at Rs 848.

Source: Bloomberg

• Radico Khaitan slipped for sixth straight day, on track for the longest losing streak in nearly 18 months since Sept. 24, 2020. The stock has shed 8.2% during the streak compared to Sensex which fell 0.7%.

• Union Bank of India shares declined for the seventh straight day, ont rack for the longest losing streak in 18 months since Sept. 25, 2020.

• Shares of NHPC is lower for the seventh straight day, on track for the longest losing streak in a year since Mar. 18, 2021.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Ruchi Soya Industries fell nearly 10% on the last day of the company's follow-on public offer.

Subscription Details: Day 3

The offer was subscribed 2.44 times on 2.28 p.m. on Monday.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 1.13 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 8.15 times

• Retail Individual Investors: 0.73 times

• Employees: 6.88 times

Source: NSE

The three-day initial public offer of Kolkata-based agri-products' wholesaler and distributer Uma Exports opened for subscription from today.

The offer was subscribed 1.66 times as of 2:28 p.m.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 0 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 0.32 times

• Retail Investors: 2.27 times.

IPO Details

• Price range: Rs 65-68

• Issue size: Rs 60 crore

• Issue Period: March 28-March 30

• Bid lot: 220 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Source: NSE

Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Southeast Asia’s Sea is closing down its India operations “in view of global market uncertainties.”

• The Singapore-based internet and tech group launched in India in October 2021.

• Sea’s popular gaming app ‘ Garena Free Fire’ was banned in India last month.

Source: Bloomberg

• The government has recovered Rs 95.8 crore including penalties from various crypto exchanges.

Source: Parliament reply by MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• Sri Lanka is discussing more aid from New Delhi during India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar's ongoing visit to the island nation.

• Details of the package are yet to be finalised.

Source: People familiar with the matter

India's stock benchmarks erased losses to the tune of nearly 1%, after logging losses for the most of the morning session, aided by gains in metals, oil and gas and banking stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 57,401.42. The 30-stock gauge fell below 57,000 in intraday trade. The NSE Nifty also trimmed losses to 17,180.65. The 50-stock gauge hovered around 17,000 in intraday trade.

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers with both the S&P BSE SmallCap and S&P BSE MidCap shedding nearly 0.5%. Twelve of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Consumer Durables shedding 1%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Metal index gained 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 1,163 stocks advanced, 2,224 declined and 154 remained unchanged.

Shares of airlines, hotel operators and tourism-linked firms surged after international flights resumed normal operations.

• India resumed scheduled international flights after two years from March 27 and ended air-bubble arrangements.

• The fall in the number of fresh covid cases and rise in vaccination cover have led to the resumption of international flights.

Source: Bloomberg

• Shares of Coal India climbed over 4%, the most in a week, after the company announced that it met 98% of project coal demand of power plants for the fiscal year FY2021-22 so far.

• Coal India has supplied an all-time high of 528 million tonnes of coal to power utilities, till March 24.

• This is 98.5% of the prorated demand of 546 million tonnes projected by Ministry of Power and Central Electricity Authority.

Source: Exchange filing

• India’s GDP growth forecasted at 8.9% in FY22 and 7.8% for FY23.

• The third wave of COVID infections ended earlier and should cause only limited economic damage.

• However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict will likely weigh on the country's economy. The risks to growth are tilted to the downside.

Source: S&P Global Ratings

Indian bonds decline tracking a global debt selloff and higher sales by states on Tuesday. Authorities are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the fiscal first-half borrowing program.

• 10-year yields rise 3bps to 6.84%

• USD/INR up 0.1% to 76.2950

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Emami Ltd. erased as much as 2.74% opening gains. The stock shed over 1.5% to a 52-week low of Rs 442.35 apiece.

• The decline comes the company acquired Dermicool brand for Rs 432 crore.

• Analysts believe that the acquisition is mostly positive, but not a gamechanger as it does not change the seasonality impact in the company.

• Slowdown in rural demand and inputs cost are likely to take a toll on near-term growth, according to a note by Prabhudas Lilladher.

• Trading volume on the stock is over five times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Of the 32 analysts tracking the company, 28 maintain 'buy', three suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 38.2%.

Source: Prabhudas Lilladher note, Exchange filing, Bloomberg

The three-day initial public offer of Kolkata-based agri-products' wholesaler and distributer Uma Exports opened for subscription from today.

The offer was subscribed 0.45 times as of 11:05 a.m.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 0 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 0.06 times

• Retail Investors: 0.62 times.

IPO Details

• Price range: Rs 65-68

• Issue size: Rs 60 crore

• Issue Period: March 28-March 30

• Bid lot: 220 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Source: NSE

Most yields along the India sovereign yield curve rose, with 5-year bonds moving the most in Monday morning trading.

• The 2-year yield was little changed at 5%

• The 10-year yield rose 3.1bps to 6.843%

• The 18-year yield remained unchanged at 7.18%

• The 2-year-10-year yield spread was 184.3bps, vs previous close 180.8bps

The Agreement covers Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Customs Procedures, Pharmaceutical products, Government Procurement, IPR, Investment, Digital Trade and Cooperation in other Areas.

• It covers almost all the tariff lines dealt in by India (11,908 tariff lines) and the UAE (7581 tariff lines) respectively.

• The agreement will come into effect starting 1 May, 2022.

• India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE especially for all labour-intensive sectors.

• India has offered market access to UAE in 100 sub-sectors, while Indian service providers will have access to around 111 sub-sectors.

• 11 broad service sectors that India will access to include business services, communication services, construction and related engineering services, distribution services, educational services, environmental services, financial services, health related and social services, tourism and travel related services, recreational cultural and sporting services and transport services.

Source: Trade document available on Commerce Ministry's website

Shares of Ruchi Soya Industries fell nearly 6.4% on the last day of the company's FPO.

Subscription Details: Day 3

The offer was subscribed 1.34 times on 11 a.m. on Monday.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 0.87 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 3.91 times

• Retail Individual Investors: 0.50 times

• Employees: 5.36 times

Source: NSE

Shares of GAIL India rose over 3.6%, the most in two weeks, to Rs 153 apiece.

• The company will consider a buyback of fully paid-up equity shares on March 31.

• Trading volume was nearly twice the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Of the 34 analysts tracking the company, 33 maintain 'buy' and one recommends 'hold'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 27.5%.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

Morgan Stanley

• Maintains 'underweight/attractive' on Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. with the target price kept unchanged at Rs 1,300; an implied downside of 9.92%

• SEBI has allowed exchanges to introduce options on commodity indices, to increase the product suite in the commodity derivatives market.

• Introduction of a new product is a good mean, but executive issues remain a challenge.

• Believes it is premature to be optimistic about adoption of options on index futures.

Source: Morgan Stanley note

Shares of Sagar Cements rose nearly 8%, the most in over a week.

• On Friday, the company approved the issuance of 1,32,07,548 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each at an issue price of Rs 265 per share, aggregating to Rs 350 crore, on a preferential basis to PI Opportunities Fund, an affiliate of Premji Invest.

• Post the investment, PI Opportunities Fund will own 10.1% of Sagar Cements and will have a nominee on the board. Promoters' ownership in the company, after the allotment will be 45.20%.

• The trading volume on the stock was 20 times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Share price rose above the 200-day simple moving average, indicating potential upward price momentum.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

Shares of Adani Total Gas rose over 8% to a 52-week high of Rs 2,221.95 apiece. The stock has extended winning streak for the eighth day.

• Today's rise comes after the company announced its foray into electric mobility with the launch of its first EV charging station in Ahmedabad.

• The company aims to expand its network to 1,500 EV charging stations across the country.

• Trading volume on the stock is more than thrice the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• The relative strength index on the stock is at 73, suggesting it may overbought.

Source: Company Statement, Bloomberg

The three-day initial public offer of Kolkata-based agri-products' wholesaler and distributer Uma Exports will be open for subscription from today.

• Price range: Rs 65-68

• Issue size: Rs 60 crore

• Issue Period: March 28-March 30

• Bid lot: 220 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Source: NSE

(Issue size has been corrected to Rs 60 crore)

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• Officials from the RBI and the Ministry of Finance are scheduled to meet March 30 to decide the government's borrowing programme for the first half of the fiscal year starting April 1.

Source: People with the knowledge of the matter.

• A Finance Ministry spokesperson could not be immediately reached for a comment.

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks opened higher, aided by gains in power, realty, oil and gas stocks, amid tepid global trade as Russia-Ukraine crisis and concerns over monetary policy tightening weigh.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.19% at 57,472.72. The NSE Nifty 50 also opened with gains of similar magnitude at 17,181.85. Both the measures pared opening gains.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap rising 0.3% and S&P BSE SmallCap gaining 0.2%. Fifteen of the 19 sectoral indices rose with S&P BSE Oil Gas adding 1.8% and S&P BSE Energy advancing 1.4%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,385 stocks advanced, 1,194 declined and 123 remained unchanged.

Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai to be appointed as chairman of Kalyan Jewellers India.

• TS Kalyanaraman will continue as the managing director.

• Rai has held various positions within the Indian government as well as in state governments, including as Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau.

Source: Exchange filing

• Motherson Sumi Wiring India is the domestic wiring harness arm of erstwhile Motherson Sumi.

• ICICI Direct expects the entity to command premium valuations with fair value pegged at Rs 70 per shre.

• The record date the demerger was Jan. 7.

Source: ICICI Direct note

Indian bonds may open lower tracking the sharp rise in U.S. yields and higher sales of bonds by states on Tuesday. Traders are awaiting on the fiscal first-half borrowing calendar due this week.

• Banking services may be partially hit on Monday and Tuesday as a section of bank employees union has supported the two-day nationwide general strike call by trade unions, Press Trust of India reported.

• USD/INR fell 0.2% to 76.2063 on Friday

• 10-year yields fell 2bps to 6.81% on Friday

• Overseas funds sold Rs 1,510 crore of local stocks Friday, as per NSE data

• They sold Rs 384 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and added Rs 46 crore of corporate debt

• State-run banks sold Rs 589 crore of sovereign bonds on March 25: CCIL data. Foreign banks sold Rs 1,960 crore of bonds.

Source: Bloomberg

Godrej Properties enters into an agreement to develop a 33 acres land parcel in the residential market in South Bengaluru.

• The land parcel in Bannerghatta Road is in close proximity and well connected to Bannerghatta Main Road, Electronic City

• MD & CEO of Godrej Properties, Mohit Malhotra said that this agreement is in-line with the company's 'strategy of deepening presence in key micro markets across India's leading cities'.

Source: Exchange Filing

RITES, a leading transport infrastructure consultancy and engineering company, and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. entered into a MoU.

• According to the MoU, the two firms will jointly bid and execute work regarding geotechnical investigations for civil engineering infrastructure projects.

• RITES and MECL will collaborate for technical services, knowledge sharing and R&D activities.

Source: Exchange Filing

• The board and management of BharatPe, one India’s fastest growing fintech unicorns, is planning to list the company in the next 18 to 24 months, its chairman Rajnish Kumar said in an interview with Business Standard.

• The company’s transition from an individual driven private firm to a board driven listed public one will be carried out in a well-thought through and well executed manner: Report

• Petrol and diesel prices have been raised by 30 paise per litre, the sixth hike in the last seven days.

• Price of petrol and diesel in Delhi at Rs 99.41 a litre and Rs 90.77 a litre respectively.

• In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices per litre are at Rs 114.19 and Rs 98.5, respectively.

• Cumulative hike now stands at around Rs 4 a litre.

Source: ANI

• PVR: The multiplex operator has approved a merger with Inox Leisure. Shareholders will get three shares of PVR for every 10 shares held in Inox. PVR now operates the largest multiplex network in India with 871 screens at 181 properties in 73 cities (India and Sri Lanka).

• Vedanta: The board of Vedanta approved capital expenditure of $687 million in Cairn Oil & Gas to increase near-term volume. It earmarked a capex of $466 million towards Zinc International’s Gamsberg Phase 2 project. Further, it has set aside $348 million for an expansion project at its subsidiary ESL Steel.

• Larsen & Toubro: The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro for acquisition of two multipurpose vessels for Indian Navy at an overall cost of Rs 887 crore.

• Emami: The company has acquired Dermicool category from Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc for Rs 432 crore.

• Bharti Airtel: Bharti Airtel to buy 4.7% stake in Indus Towers for Rs 2,388.06 crore.

• Adani Enterprises: The company's two units, Mahanadi Mines and Minerals and MP Natural Resources, have won a coal block each in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

• GAIL India: To consider buyback of its shares on March 31.

• Wipro: Approved interim dividend of Rs 5 per equity share for FY22.

• PTC India Financial: Gets income tax refund of Rs 50.97 crore.

• Indiamart Intermesh: To acquire 51.09% stake in Finlite Technologies (Livekeeping) for Rs 45.98 crore. The acquisition is expected to be completed in 60 days.

• Sun Pharma: The company has presented Phase 3 Data for WINLEVI (clascoterone) cream 1% for the Topical Treatment of Acne Vulgaris at the AAD Annual Meeting.

• Exide Industries: Exide Industries incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions Ltd., to set up a a green field multi-gigawatt Lithium-ion cell manufacturing facility in India with an initial authorised and paid-up equity share capital of Rs 100,000.

• Responsive Industries: Mrunal Shetty has resigned as director and chief financial officer. The company has accepted his resignation and relieved him of his responsibilities with effect from March 24, 2022.

• Bank of Baroda: The bank has acquired 10 lakh equity shares of Open Network for Digital Commerce.

• Indian Hotels: The board announced closure of the QIP launched on March 22. The issue price had been fixed at Rs 202 per share.