The headline equity indices ended with minor gains after a volatile session on Monday. The Nifty managed to settle near the 17,400 level after hitting the day's low of 17,312.75 in mid-morning trade. Auto, PSU bank and realty stocks were in demand. On the flip side, oil & gas, FMCG and metal stocks declined.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 114.92 points or 0.19% to 59,106.44. The Nifty 50 index rose 38.30 points or 0.22% to 17,398.05.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.36% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.17%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,772 shares rose and 856 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy meeting begins today. The outcome of the meeting will be announced on April 6. The RBI's monetary policy committee (MPC) may reportedly increase the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) in order to combat rising inflation.
The domestic stock market will remain shut on Tuesday, 4 April 2023 on account of Mahavir Jayanti.
Economy:
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 55.3 in February to 56.4 in March, signalling the strongest improvement in operating conditions in 2023 so far. That said the PMI average for the final fiscal quarter (55.7) came in below that recorded in the prior period (56.3 in Q3).
Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: Underlying demand for Indian goods remained strong in March, underscored by the quickest upturn in factory orders for three months. Hence, production continued to expand at a robust clip and firms stepped up their stock-building efforts.
Companies reported abundant capacity among themselves and their suppliers. Pending workloads expanded only marginally in March, hindering job creation. As for supply chains, improved availability of raw materials among vendors resulted in shorter delivery times and retreating price pressures. Overall, input costs rose at the second-slowest rate since September 2020.
Firms tried to benefit as much as possible from this moderation in inflation by acquiring additional raw materials and semi-finished items. This contributed to one of the strongest increases in input inventories in over 18 years of data collection.
Although manufacturers were upbeat towards future new orders, they somewhat doubted that inflation would continue to recede. Such worries restricted optimism towards output prospects.
Meanwhile, the gross GST revenue collected in March 2023 is Rs. 1,60,122 crore. The total gross collection for 2022-23 stands at Rs 18.10 lakh crore. The gross revenues in 2022-23 were 22% higher than that last year. This was the fourth time in the current financial year that the gross GST collection has crossed Rs 1.5 lakh crore, marking the second-highest collection ever.
New Listing:
Shares of Udayshivakumar Infra settled at Rs 33.39 on the BSE, representing a discount of 4.6% compared with the issue price of Rs 35.
The scrip was listed at Rs 35, matching the initial public offer (IPO) price.
So far, the stock has hit a high of 35 and a low of 33.25. On the BSE, over 14.02 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter so far.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Avalon Technologies received bids for 2.46 lakh shares as against 1.14 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:18 IST on Monday (3 April 2023). The issue was subscribed 0.02 times.
The issue opened for bidding on Monday (3 April 2023) and it will close on Thursday (6 April 2023). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 415-436 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 34 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index gained 1.49% to 12,425.85, extending gains for the third session. The index rallied 4.26% in three trading sessions.
Hero MotoCorp (up 3.53%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.83%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.68%), Eicher Motors (up 1.92%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 1.56%), Ashok Leyland (up 1.33%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.97%), Samvardhana Motherson International (up 0.89%), Tata Motors (up 0.84%) and Tube Investments of India (up 0.72%) advanced.
Tata Motors added 0.84%.The auto major's total domestic sales rose 3% to 89,351 units sold in March 2023 as against 86,718 units sold in March 2022.The total domestic sales increased by 14.54% last month compared with 78,006 units in February 2023.
The company said that its sales in the domestic and international market for Q4 FY23 stood at 2,51,822 vehicles compared with 2,43,459 units during Q4 FY22, up 3.4% year on year (YoY).
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.97%. The auto major said that its overall auto sales for the month of March 2023 stood at 66,091 vehicles, registering a growth of 21% as against 54,643 vehicles sold in March 2022. On a sequential basis, M&M's total auto sales rose 12.4% in March 2023 as against 58,801 units sold in February 2023.
Further, M&M's Farm Equipment Sector (FES) announced its tractor sales numbers for March 2023. The company's total tractor sales (domestic + exports) increased 17.6% YoY to 35,014 units in March 2023 from 29,763 units sold in March 2022.
Maruti Suzuki India advanced 2.68%. The car major on Monday announced that its total production skid 5.66% to 1,54,148 units in March 2023 compared with 1,63,392 units recorded in March 2022. Sequentially, the company's total production declined 3.58% as against 1,59,873 units produced in February 2023.
Meanwhile, the auto maker said that its total sales declined 0.19% to 170,071 units in March 2023 compared with 170,395 units in March 2022. Further, the car maker announced increase in prices across models. An estimated weighted average of increase across models stands at around 0.8% and is calculated using ex showroom prices of models in Delhi. This is effective from 1 April 2023, said the company.
Eicher Motors rose 1.92%. The auto maker said its unlisted subsidiary, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), reported 35.2% increase in commercial vehicles (CV) sales to 11,906 units in March 2023 over March 2022.
The company's two-wheeler brand, Royal Enfield, announced that its sales stood at 72,235 units in March 2023, registering 7% growth over March 2022.
Hero MotoCorp rallied 3.53%. Hero MotoCorp sold 519,342 units in March 2023, translating into a double-digit growth of 15% over the corresponding month of 2022, when it had sold 450,154 two-wheelers.
TVS Motor Company rose 0.71%. TVS Motor Company registered a growth of 3% with sales increasing from 307,954 units in March 2022 to 317,152 units in March 2023.
Ashok Leyland gained 1.33%. The commercial vehicles maker reported 19% rise in total vehicle sales to 23,926 units in March 2023 from 20,123 units in March 2022.
Escorts Kubota declined 1.16%. The company announced that its Agri Machinery business in March 2023 sold 10,305 tractors, registering a growth of 2.3% as against 10,074 tractors sold in March 2022.
SML Isuzu was locked in an upper circuit of 20% after the company's total sales grew 59% to 2,169 units in March 2023 compared with 1,363 units sold in March 2022.
Stocks in Spotlight:
UltraTech Cement added 0.23% after the company said that it had recorded 14% increase in consolidated cement sales volume to 31.7 million tons (MT) in Q4 FY23 from 27.7 MT in Q4 FY22. As compared with Q3 FY23, the company's consolidated sales volume has risen by 22%. Sales volume in the previous quarter stood at 25.9 MT.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) rose 0.99% after the company said it has achieved the best ever annual production during the financial year 2022-23 ending on 31 March 2023. During the period, SAIL recorded 19.409 million tonnes (MT) of hot metal and 18.289 MT crude steel production, a growth of 3.6% and 5.3% respectively over the previous best.
Life Insurance Corporation of India gained 1.94% after the major life insurer announced that Tablesh Pandey has been appointed as the managing director of the corporation effective from 1 April 2023.
Bharat Electronics (BEL) shed 0.60%. The company said that it has achieved a turnover of about Rs 17300 crore during the financial year 2022-23, against the previous year's turnover of Rs. 15,044 crore, thereby registering a growth of 15% on YoY basis. BEL's Order Book as on 1 April 2023, was around Rs 60,500 crore.
Hindustan Aeronautics fell 0.16%. The company said that it has recorded highest-ever revenue from operations of Rs 26,500 crore (provisional and unaudited) in FY23 as against Rs 24,620 crore in FY22, registering a growth of 7.6%. The order book of the company stood at around Rs 82,000 crore at the end of March 2023, after liquidation of the supplies during 2022-23.
APL Apollo Tubes declined 1.98%. The company announced that it had registered sales volume of 649,726 ton in Q4 FY23, up by 18% from 551,723 ton in Q4 FY22. On a sequential basis, the company's sales volume has risen by 7%. Sales volume in Q3 FY23 stood at 605,049 ton. For FY23, the company reported sales volume of 2,279,846 ton compared to 1,754,963 ton in FY22, up 30% YoY.
CSB Bank advanced 3.44% after the bank's total deposits jumped 21.39% to Rs 24,505.81 crore as on 31 March 2023 from Rs 20,188.30 crore as on 31 March 2022.
Dhanlaxmi Bank jumped 4.71% after the bank's gross advances increased by 16.85% to Rs 9,867 crore as on 31 March 2023 from Rs 8,444 crore as on 31 March 2022.
Global Markets:
The Dow Jones futures were up 104 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stock market today.
Markets in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday. Crude oil prices surged after OPEC+ members agreed to cut more than 1 million barrels per day to extend through the end of 2023.
China's Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for March was 50. The reading for March fell from 51.6 seen in February. China's official PMI for March stood at 51.9.
Japan's factory activity showed a softer contraction in five months. The manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to 49.2% for March, higher than February's figure of 47.7%, based on a private survey.
U.S. stocks rose Friday after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed a cooler-than-expected increase in prices.
The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge climbed at a 0.3% monthly pace in February, marking a slight slowdown from the month before as pricing pressures show signs of gradually easing.
The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 4.6% in February from a year earlier, the Commerce Department reported Friday, compared to January's 4.7% annual pace.
