Sensex, Nifty Log Worst Day In A Week Dragged By RIL, IT, Metals Stocks

India's stock benchmarks snapped a five-day winning streak, dragged by losses in metals, information technology stocks, ahead of the crucial two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that begins later today.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.26% to 55,776.85. The 30-stock gauge shed 1,067 points to an intraday low of 55,418.95. The NSE Nifty also declined by similar magnitude to 16,663. This is the worst day for the benchmarks in over a week.

The move was the biggest since falling 2.4% on March 7 and follows the previous session's increase of 1.4%. Hindalco Industries Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 5.3%. Today, 33 of 50 shares fell, while 17 rose

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap falling 0.7% and S&P BSE SmallCap slipping 0.9%. Barring S&P BSE Auto index, all the other 18 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Metal losing over 4.35%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 1,336 stocks advanced, 2,050 declined and 102 remained unchanged.

"Investor sentiment got a hit amid negative global market cues. The news of rising covid cases and lockdowns in major Chinese cities has sent negative signals to the market. Meanwhile, US federal bank has a two-day meet starting from today. Markets expect a 25bps hike in interest rates to curb the situation of rising inflation", Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities wrote in a note.

• "Otherwise we will receive applications; Rs 12,000 crore is a big amount."

• Out of Rs 38,000 crore, Rs 25,000 crore of claims have been admitted, CoC updates the tribunal.

• Creditors' committee has changed last date for EOI under IBC to March 25.

• Last date for receiving resolution plans is May 5.

Source: NCLT proceedings

U.K. to deny Russia and Belarus access to Most Favoured Nation tariff for hundreds of their exports.

• U.K. to levy additional 35% tax on a list of goods worth £900 million.

• List includes vodka, iron, steel, fertilisers, wood, tyres, cement, copper, aluminium and silver.

• UK to ban exports of luxury goods such as luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and art to Russia.

Source: U.K. Government statement

Bajaj Auto approved the appointment of Dinesh Thapar as the CFO and key managerial personnel of the company, with immediate effect, in the existing vacancy.

• Dinesh Thapar comes with 23 years of experience, including stints at Reliance Retail and Hindustan Unilever.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Godrej Properties rose over 3% in intraday trade after the real estate developer acquired 50 acres of land in Sonipat, Haryana as it expanded residential portfolio in NCR.

• The project will offer 1 million square feet of plotted residential development.

Source: Exchange filing

Flipkart Health has announced the appointment of Prashant Jhaveri as its Chief Executive Officer.

• Jhaveri was earlier the Chief Business Officer at Apollo Health and Lifestyle.

• Flipkart Health+ was launched in November 2021, with a focus on creating an end to end digital healthcare platform.

• The platform was launched with the acquisition of online pharmacy Sastasundar.

Source: Press release

Paytm tumbled to another record low after the company gave its Q4 business update. The stock is now down 72% from its IPO price of Rs 2,150

Source: Bloomberg

• Shares of Tata Consumer Products jumps over 7%, the most in 19 months.

• Trading volume on the stock was 4.5 times the 30-day average at this time of the day.

• Share price crossed above 100-day moving average.

• Of the 21 analysts tracking the company, 16 maintain 'buy', three recommend 'hold' and two suggest 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 12%.

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks declined after fluctuating between gains and losses for most of the morning session. Metals, information technology and oil and gas stocks fell. Volatility in markets comes ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting that begins later today.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.51% to 56,197.35. The 30-stock gauge lost 400 points to an intraday low of 56,085.99. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined by similar magnitude to 16,784.70.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap little changed and S&P BSE SmallCap losing 0.3%.Twelve of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Metal falling 3.7%, when the S&P BSE Oil & Gas shed nearly 2%. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Auto added over 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of neither bulls nor bears. About 1,604 stocks advanced, 1,662 declined and 115 remained unchanged.

Shares of chemical makers edged higher amid the shutdown in China.

• Shares of SRF, Deepak Nitrite, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Anupam Rayasan, Heranba Industries, Linde India advanced.

• The shutdown in Jilin province in China due to covid-19 cases aided phenol makers like Deepak Nitrite

• Government's notification on Monday restricting imports of hydrofluorocarbons has led to a surge in fluorine makers.

• Exports of organic and inorganic chemicals rose 25% YoY in February, according to monthly trade data.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Cipla rose over 3.25% to a record Rs 1,083 apiece.

• This is the seventh consecutive session in which the stock has risen. The scrip had added over 14% in the seven sessions.

• Bernstein reiterated 'outperform' on the stock while IIFL and HSBC retained 'buy' calls last week.

• Trading volume on the stock was more than thrice the 30-day moving average at this time of the day. The relative strength index on the stock is 79, suggesting it may be overbought.

• Of the 43 analysts tracking the company, 35 maintain 'buy', six suggest 'hold' and two recommend 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 1.6%.

Source: Bloomberg

• Escorts cut to 'hold' from 'buy' at ICICI Direct; price target set at Rs 2,050.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Larsen & Toubro rose after the company's power transmission and distribution business bagged orders in India and abroad.

• L&T classified the orders as significant, implying that the order value was between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore.

• The company's renewable arm also bagged orders to construct 245 Mega Watt solar power project in Rajasthan and to implement solar photovoltaic cum storage project in Kutch district in Gujarat.

• The firm also secured contracts to supply and construct shunt reaction in 132 kV substations in the Middle East region.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• Mumbai International Airport has delayed a proposed dollar bond offering, as market volatility prompts borrowers to adjust their funding plans.

• The operator of Mumbai International Airport had earlier planned a meeting with investors for the proposed issuance.

• The financial market upheaval due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to the deal being put on hold.

Source: People familiar with the matter.

• A spokesperson for Adani Group declined to comment on planned issuance

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. rose over 8.3% after the company bagged an order worth Rs 75 crore per annum from India's largest OEM in MHCV segment.

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

• Shares crossed 100-day moving average on high trading volume. The stock rose nearly 14% over the last two sessions.

• All five analysts tracking the company maintain 'buy'. The return potential on the stock stands at 43.7%.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

Most yields along the India sovereign yield curve fell, with 3-year bonds moving the most in Tuesday morning trading.

• The 2-year yield fell 0.7bps to 4.987%

• The 10-year yield fell 2.2bps to 6.832%

• The 18-year yield remained unchanged at 7.18%

• The 2-year-10-year yield spread was 184.5bps, vs previous close 186bps

Source: Bloomberg

The Indian rupee is the biggest gainer in Asia amid a slide in crude prices. Bonds also benefited from lower oil prices despite a rise in headline inflation.

• USD/INR down 0.3% at 76.3775

• 10-year yields down 3bps to 6.83%

Source: Bloomberg

SoftBank's Munish Verma is stepping down from the boards of One 97 Communications Ltd. and PB Fintech Ltd., Economic Times reported, citing people it did not identify.

• The resignation is in line with SoftBank's policy of stepping away from the board once a portfolio company goes public, according to the report

• Paytm, Policybazaar and SoftBank were not immediately available for a comment.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• India will issue at least Rs 24,000 crore in sovereign green bonds as the country marks a shift towards low-carbon economy.

• The debut sale may take place in the first of FY2022-23.

• Decision to sell more green debt will depend on the response to the initial issuance.

Source: Officials with knowledge of the matter.

• A finance ministry spokesman was not immediately available for a comment.

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks opened higher, aided by gains in consumer durables, realty and banking stocks, amid a moderation in crude prices ahead of the two-day U.S. Federal Reserve's crucial meeting which begins today.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.17% to 56,582.76. The NSE Nifty 50 also advanced by similar magnitude to 16,884.10.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap adding 0.44% and S&P BSE SmallCap gaining over 0.6%. Fifteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd advanced with S&P BSE Realty gaining over 1%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Metal index shed over 2%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,837 stocks advanced, 600 declined and 86 remained unchanged.

SaaS solutions provider for travel and hospitality, RateGain Technology has been chosen by Rakuten Group for expanding global reach.

• The addition of RateGain is expected to help Rakuten's customers get a wider access to properties worldwide and provide more options on the platform.

• Rakuten Group runs Rakuten Travel Exchange, a global hotel connectivity and travel technology division.

• RateGain's distribution platform provides access to over 400+ channels including OTAs, meta-search engines and about 1,91,000 properties.

Source: Exchange Filing

Paytm achieved highest ever monthly loan disbursals in February 2022, the company said in its Q4 business update.

• Lending business rose 449% YoY to 4.1 million loan disbursals during January and February.

• Approximately 2.2 million loans were disbursed in Feb. alone, aggregating to a total loan value of Rs 2,095 crore, up 336% YoY.

• User engagement rose with average monthly transacting users rising 41% YoY, at 69.5 million.

• Offline payments business strengthened with the number of merchants adopting Paytm payment instruments rising to 2.6 million at the end of February.

• RBI's direction to temporarily halt onboarding of new customers in Paytm Payments Bank does not impact existing customers.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Dhani Services informed that Gagan Banga, a non-executive director on the company's board resigned from his positive effective March 14.

• Gagan Banga, who is the vice chairman, MD and CEO of Indiabulls Housing Finance, has resigned citing the need to focus his time fully on Indiabulls Housing Finance.

Source: Exchange Filing

Bond traders will weigh the Feb. inflation print, which came in at an eight-month high, with the outlook set to worsen amid commodity-supply disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Traders will also factor in the sharp overnight drop in crude prices and rise in U.S. yields

• Consumer prices rose 6.1% last month from a year earlier, the Statistics Ministry said in a statement Monday. That’s faster than the median estimate for a 6% gain seen in a Bloomberg survey of economists and well above the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation target band.

• USD/INR little changed at 76.5663 on Monday

• 10-year yields down 1bp at 6.86% on Monday

• Overseas funds sold Rs 452 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 86 crore of corporate debt on Monday

• State-run banks bought Rs 175 crore of sovereign bonds on March 14: CCIL data. Foreign banks sold Rs 400 crore of bonds.

Source: Bloomberg

Makers of consumer goods like air-conditioners and coolers will be in focus after India's weather office issued an alert for heat-wave like conditions in western parts of the country, including Mumbai.

• In focus: Blue Star, Symphony, Voltas, Amber Enterprises, IFB Industries, Whirlpool of India, Havells India

Source: Bloomberg

Real estate developer Godrej Properties acquired 50 acres of land in Sonipat, Haryana as it expanded residential portfolio in NCR.

• The project will offer 1 million square feet of plotted residential development with attractive plot sizes and lifestyle amenities.

• The site has good connectivity to Delhi border and national highways.

Source: Exchange filing

The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to revamp India's capital gains tax structure in the next budget to augment revenue collections and boost spending on welfare programs, Mint reported citing two officials aware of the deliberations.

• The proposal is being studied in the finance ministry.

• The government is likely to take the matter up in the next budget as legislative amendments are required to make capital gains tax structure more efficient.

• Mint's email sent to the finance ministry spokesperson on Sunday seeking comments remained unanswered.