Sensex, Nifty turn red; broader markets outperform.

The domestic equity barometers pared all gains and slipped below the flat line in morning trade. The Nifty traded tad above the 17,650 level after hitting the day's high at 17,766.60 in early trade. Auto shares extended their rise for seventh consecutive session.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 173.91 points or 0.29% to 59,736.84. The Nifty 50 index lost 49.95 points or 0.28% to 17,656.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.39% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.15%.

ITI (up 6.14%), CEAT (up 5.93%), Just Dial (up 5.79%), RVNL (up 3.69%) and Graphite India (up 3.66%) were the top gainers in the broader market segment.

The market breadth turned positive. On the BSE, 1,862 shares rose and 1,269 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Investors await corporate results this week, along with comments from the Fed Reserve officials for cues on interest rate hikes. Stronger-than-expected Chinese economic data failed to raise the investor sentiment. Bank of International Settlements head Agustín Carstens has reportedly warned that interest rates may need to stay higher for longer due to high inflation and rising risks of instability in the global economy.

New Listing:

Shares of Avalon Technologies were currently trading at Rs 418.45, at a discount of 4.03% (17.55) to the issue price of Rs 436.

The scrip was listed at Rs 431, at a discount of 1.15% to the issue price.

So far the stock has hit a high of Rs 435.30 and a low of Rs 411.70. On the BSE, over 1.37 lakh shares of the company had changed hands at the counter.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Avalon Technologies received bids for 2.53 crore shares as against 1.14 crore shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 2.21 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Monday (3 April 2023) and it closed on Thursday (6 April 2023). The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 415-436 per share.

Of the net proceeds from fresh issue, the company proposes to utilize Rs 145 crore toward prepayment and repayment of certain outstanding borrowings and Rs 90 crore towards funding the working capital requirements of the company. The balance is for general corporate purposes.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.16% to 13,016.75. The index has gained _ % in seven sessions.

Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 1.82%), MRF (up 1.8%), Eicher Motors (up 1.26%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.87%) and Tata Motors (up 0.86%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Balkrishna Industries (up 0.81%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.56%), Tube Investments of India (up 0.54%), Bharat Forge (up 0.17%) and Bosch (up 0.08%).

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto (down 1.05%), TVS Motor Company (down 0.99%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.54%) turned lower.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced to 7.250 from 7.247 in previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.9875, compared with its close of 82.0125 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2023 settlement rose 0.13% to Rs 60,257.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.06% to 102.05.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.01% to 3.591.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2023 settlement gained 23 cents or 0.27% to $84.99 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Kolte-Patil Developers rose 0.63%. The board of directors of the company approved allotment of 20,650 senior, secured, listed, rated, redeemable non-convertible debentures of face value Rs. 1,00,000/- each, on a private placement basis, aggregating to Rs. 206.50 crore to Marubeni Corporation, Japan.

Goa Carbon jumped 5.14%. The company's Bilaspur Unit, Sector B, Sirgitti Industrial Area, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh) has resumed. After preliminary heat up and commencement of feeding of raw material, normal production is likely to resume from 17 April 2023.

Hathway Cable and Datacom tumbled 3.61%. The company reported a net loss of Rs 14.62 crore in Q4 FY23 as against net profit of Rs 28.35 crore in Q4 FY22. Net sales rose 2.4% to Rs 459.59 crore in Q4 FY23 as compared with Rs 448.79 crore in Q4 FY22.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mostly lower on Tuesday as fears of rising U.S. interest rates largely offset optimism over stronger-than-expected Chinese economic growth.

China's economy grew more than expected in the first quarter of 2023. China's gross domestic product rose by 4.5% in the first quarter of 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The economy expanded 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Reserve Bank of Australia warned of further tightening in monetary policy could come if needed, minutes released from its April meeting showed on Tuesday. The RBA kept its policy rate unchanged earlier this month.

US stocks rose on Monday as traders combed through the latest batch of corporate earnings results, searching for clues on the health of corporate America.

Sensex, Nifty end with deep cuts; broader markets outperform.

 

The key equity benchmarks ended with significant losses after a weak session on Monday. The Nifty managed to end above the 17,700 mark after hitting the day's low of 17,574.05 in morning trade. Shares of PSU banks, FMCG firms and consumer durable makers managed to end in the green while those of IT, healthcare and pharma shares ended in the red.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 661.5 points or 1.09% to 59,769.50. The Nifty 50 index lost 163.35 points or 0.92% to 17,664.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.56% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.13%.

The market breadth turned positive. On the BSE, 1,856 shares rose and 1,730 shares fell. A total of 182 shares were unchanged.

Disappointing performance by domestic IT giant Infosys (down 9.53%) coupled with the prospect of more rate hikes by major central banks and a global economic slowdown dented the domestic investor sentiment.

Economy:

India's annual wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation eased to 29-month low of 1.34% in March 2023 as compared to 3.85% recorded in February 2023 and 14.63% in March 2022.

“Decline in the rate of inflation in March, 2023 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of basic metals, food products, textiles, non-food articles, minerals, rubber & plastic products, crude petroleum & natural gas and paper and paper products,” the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

Separately, India's March goods exports declined 13.9% to $38.38 billion and imports declined 7.9% to $58.11 billion. In March 2022, goods exports were $44.57 billion and imports were $63 billion. March's trade deficit is at $19.73 billion. The total trade deficit for 2022-23 is at $122 billion, according to the government.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index tumbled 4.72% to 27,004.90. The index has declined 6.82% in two sessions.LTI Mindtree (down 6.82%), Tech Mahindra (down 5.28%), Persistent Systems (down 4.37%) and Coforge (down 3.63%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were L&T Technology Services (down 2.97%), Mphasis (down 2.04%), Wipro (down 1.9%) and Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.61%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Infosys slumped 9.53%. The IT major reported 7% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,128 crore on a 2.3% fall in revenues to Rs 37,441 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year-on-year basis, the company's net profit and revenues are higher by 7.8% and 16%, respectively as compared with Q4 FY22.

The IT giant issued a revenue growth guidance of 4% - 7% in constant currency and operating margin guidance of 20% - 22% for FY24.

HDFC Bank fell 1.58%. The bank's net revenue grew by 21% to Rs 32,083 crore in Q4 March 2023 from Rs 26,509.8 crore in Q4 March 2022. The bank's net profit rose 19.8% to Rs 12,047.5 crore in Q4 March 2023 over in Q4 March 2022.

The board of directors of HDFC Bank approved the issuance of Perpetual Debt Instruments, Tier II Capital Bonds and Long-Term Bonds up to total amount of Rs. 50,000 crore over the period of next twelve months through private placement mode.

HCL Technologies slipped 2.78%. Anand Birje, head of Digital Business Services, resigned from the company to pursue another opportunity.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) added 2.68%. AGEL said its sale of energy for solar portfolio increased by 6% YoY at 2,872 million units in Q4 FY23 as against 2,717 million units in Q4 FY22.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises declined 1.87%. As per reports, Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund is reportedly likely to sell 5.65% stake in the company through block deals. On the BSE, 5.76 crore shares of the company had changed hands at the counter as against an average trading volume of 1.75 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

TV18 Broadcast rose 1.39%, Reliance Industries added 0.44% and Bodhi Tree Multimedia advanced 2.52%. Viacom18, a subsidiary of the company, closed the merger of Reliance Storage with itself and integrated JioCinema as well. Viacom18 allotted shares to RIL group entities and Bodhi Tree Systems as consideration for the scheme of merger.

KIOCL zoomed 13.68%. The company received two mineral exploration projects in Karnataka for a reconnaissance survey for polymetallic mineralisation in Nagavanda gold and base metal blocks in parts of Dhanvangere, Haveri, and Shimoga districts at Rs 1.48 crore and preliminary exploration for amalgamated Kalaburagi limestone blocks in the Jevargi region at Rs 2.33 crore.

Jubilant Ingrevia advanced 3.65%. The company announced that it has commissioned new acetic anhydride plant, at its manufacturing facility at Bharuch, Gujarat. The plant adds around 60,000 MT of capacity, whereby scaling the company's overall annual acetic anhydride capacity to 210,000 MT.

Brightcom Group was locked in 5% lower circuit. SEBI found that the company overstated profit after tax for fiscals 2019 and 2020 by more than Rs 1,280 crore. The regulator has ordered the company to publish the correct shareholding pattern and its managing director and directors not to sell their shares.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday, as U.S. earnings season gets into full swing, while a raft of Chinese data will offer insight into how the world's second-largest economy is recovering.

Chinese data on retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product are due on Tuesday.

Wall Street ended lower on Friday as a barrage of mixed economic data appeared to affirm another Federal Reserve interest rate hike, dampening investor enthusiasm after a series of big US bank earnings launched first-quarter reporting season.

Indices trade with major cuts; Infosys tumbles over 10%.

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 17,700 level after hitting the day's high of 17,863 in early trade. PSU bank, FMCG and realty shares saw buying demand while IT, healthcare and pharma shares witnessed selling pressure.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 661.5 points or 1.09% to 59,769.50. The Nifty 50 index lost 163.35 points or 0.92% to 17,664.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.01%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,655 shares rose and 1,848 shares fell. A total of 174 shares were unchanged.

Disappointing performance by domestic IT giant Infosys (down 10.70%) coupled with the prospect of more rate hikes by major central banks and a global economic slowdown dented the domestic investor sentiment.

Economy:

India's annual wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation eased to 29-month low of 1.34% in March 2023 as compared to 3.85% recorded in February 2023 and 14.63% in March 2022.

“Decline in the rate of inflation in March, 2023 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of basic metals, food products, textiles, non-food articles, minerals, rubber & plastic products, crude petroleum & natural gas and paper and paper products,” the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

Separately, India's March goods exports declined 13.9% to $38.38 billion and imports declined 7.9% to $58.11 billion. In March 2022, goods exports were $44.57 billion and imports were $63 billion. March's trade deficit is at $19.73 billion. The total trade deficit for 2022-23 is at $122 billion, according to the government.

Gainers & Losers:

Nestle India (up 3.92%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.27%), Britannia Industries (up 1.66%), Grasim Industries (up 1.57%) and ITC (up 1.54%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Infosys (down 10.70%), Tech Mahindra (down 5.25%), HCL Technologies (down 3.43%), Wipro (down 2.59%) and Larsen & Toubro (down 2.16%) were the top Nifty losers.

Infosys slumped 10.70%. The IT major reported 7% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,128 crore on a 2.3% fall in revenues to Rs 37,441 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year-on-year basis, the company's net profit and revenues are higher by 7.8% and 16%, respectively as compared with Q4 FY22.

The IT giant issued a revenue growth guidance of 4% - 7% in constant currency and operating margin guidance of 20% - 22% for FY24.

HCL Technologies fell 3.43%. Anand Birje, head of Digital Business Services, resigned from the company to pursue another opportunity.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Bank fell 1.59%. The bank's net revenue grew by 21% to Rs 32,083 crore in Q4 March 2023 from Rs 26,509.8 crore in Q4 March 2022. The bank's net profit rose 19.8% to Rs 12,047.5 crore in Q4 March 2023 over in Q4 March 2022.

The board of directors of HDFC Bank approved the issuance of Perpetual Debt Instruments, Tier II Capital Bonds and Long-Term Bonds up to total amount of Rs. 50,000 crore over the period of next twelve months through private placement mode.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) added 1.60%. AGEL said its sale of energy for solar portfolio increased by 6% YoY at 2,872 million units in Q4 FY23 as against 2,717 million units in Q4 FY22.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises declined 2.47%. As per reports, Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund is reportedly likely to sell 5.65% stake in the company through block deals. On the BSE, 5.60 crore shares of the company had changed hands at the counter as against an average trading volume of 1.75 lakh shares in the past two weeks.

TV18 Broadcast rose 2.42%, Reliance Industries added 0.50% and Bodhi Tree Multimedia advanced 3.10%. Viacom18, a subsidiary of the company, closed the merger of Reliance Storage with itself and integrated JioCinema as well. Viacom18 allotted shares to RIL group entities and Bodhi Tree Systems as consideration for the scheme of merger.

Brightcom Group was locked in 5% lower circuit. SEBI found that the company overstated profit after tax for fiscals 2019 and 2020 by more than Rs 1,280 crore. The regulator has ordered the company to publish the correct shareholding pattern and its managing director and directors not to sell their shares.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday, as U.S. earnings season gets into full swing, while a raft of Chinese data will offer insight into how the world's second-largest economy is recovering.

Chinese data on retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product are due on Tuesday.

Wall Street ended lower on Friday as a barrage of mixed economic data appeared to affirm another Federal Reserve interest rate hike, dampening investor enthusiasm after a series of big US bank earnings launched first-quarter reporting season.

Indices rise for 9th day; Nifty ends above 17,800; Infosys slides over 3%.

The domestic equity barometers ended a volatile session with minor gains on Thursday, rising for the ninth trading session. The Nifty settled above the 17,800 level after hitting day's low of 17,729.65 in afternoon trade. Banking, realty and financial services shares advanced while IT, pharma and media stocks declined. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 38.23 points or 0.06% to 60,431. The Nifty 50 index added 15.60 points or 0.09% to 17,828. In nine consecutive sessions, the Sensex jumped 4.89% while the Nifty climbed 5.17%.

The broader market outperformed frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.16% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.33%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,912 shares rose and 1,574 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

IT major, Infosys slipped 3.03% ahead of Q4 results today.

Meanwhile, the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 2.97% to 11.91.

The domestic stock market will remain shut on Friday, 14 April 2023 on account of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.

Economy:

According to the official data released on Wednesday, India's retail inflation or the consumer price index (CPI) for March eased to a 15-month low of 5.66% from 6.44% in February.

India's industrial output, as measured by the index of Industrial production or IIP, in February rose 5.6% year on year, data from the Ministry of Statistics showed today. The index of industrial production (IIP) expanded by 5.2% in January after rising 4.3% in December.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) slipped 1.51%. The IT major's consolidated net profit rose 5.03% to Rs 11,392 crore on 1.6% increase in net sales to Rs 59,162 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, the IT firm's net profit jumped 14.77% and net sales rose 16.94% in Q4 FY23. Constant currency revenue grew 10.7% YoY in Q4 FY23. Operating margin stood at 24.5% while net margin was at 19.3% in Q4 FY23.

On a full year basis, the IT company's consolidated net profit rose 9.97% to Rs 42,147 crore on 17.58% jump in revenue to Rs 2,25,458 crore in FY23 over FY22. The company's Q4 total contract value (TCV) stood at $10 billion with an all-time high number of large deals, taking the FY23 order book TCV at $34.1 billion.

Coal India (CIL) fell 0.90%. The company announced that its coking coal production has rose 17.2% to 54.6 million tonnes (MTs) in FY23 as compared with 46.6 MTs in FY22.

Vedanta rose 0.15%. The diversified minerals company announced that its board approved raising of funds through issuance of non‐convertible debentures (NCDs) aggregating up to Rs 2,100 crore in one or more tranches, on a private placement basis.

Varun Beverages declined 1.21%. The leading beverage maker announced that its board will consider a stock split on 2 May 2023. Additionally, the board will also review and discuss the financial results for the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

AU Small Finance Bank zoomed 16.65% after the Reserve Bank of India approved the re-appointment of Sanjay Agarwal as managing director & CEO of the bank for a period of three years w.e.f. 19 April 2023 till 18 April 2026.

Anand Rathi Wealth rallied 2.60% after the company's consolidated net profit (from continuing operations) jumps 23.16% to Rs 42.54 crore on 28.05% increase in total income to Rs 146.81 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q4 FY22. Total asset under management (AUM) was at Rs 38,993 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023, up 18.5% as against Rs 32,906 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) gained 1.25% after the company announced that it has received a letter of award (LoA) from North Western Railway, aggregating to Rs 63.08 crore. The public sector enterprise secured an order for the provision of automatic block signalling on Madar-Sakhun section of Jaipur division over North Western Railway.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) rose 0.11%. BHEL said that it has signed a MoU with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to jointly pursue business opportunities around nuclear power plants based on pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) technology.

Edvenswa Enterprises hit an upper limit of 5% after marquee investor Porinju Veliyath bought a 1.43% stake in the company through a bulk deal on the BSE yesterday.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia traded mixed on Thursday after minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed that Fed officials see the U.S. economy entering a recession in the wake of the banking crisis.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting revealed concern among several members of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) regarding the regional bank liquidity crisis.

Comments from the Fed erased earlier gains seen on Wall Street after the release of the U.S. consumer price index report that showed inflation cooled in March. The U.S. CPI rose 0.1% for the month and 5% from a year ago while core CPI rose 5.6% on an annual basis.