Nifty 50 closed at 22,141.05 (136.4, 0.6%), BSE Sensex closed at 72,996.31 (526.0, 0.7%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 20,099.35 (94.1, 0.5%). Of the 2,133 stocks traded today, 823 showed gains, and 1,270 showed losses.
Indian indices maintained their gains from the afternoon session and closed in the green. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, fell 0.9% and closed at 12.7 points. Larsen & Toubro closed higher after the company’s buildings and factories vertical won multiple orders worth Rs 2,500-5,000 crore from domestic and international markets.
Nifty Smallcap 100 closed in the green, while the Nifty Midcap 100 ended the trading session flat. Nifty Infra and Nifty Energy closed higher than their Tuesday close. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, Oil & Gas emerged as the top-performing sector of the day, with a rise of 2.2%.
Major Asian indices closed in the red, except for India’s BSE Sensex and Japan’s Nikkei 225 indices closing in the green. Most European indices traded flat or higher, amid mixed global cues. US index futures traded higher, indicating a positive start to the trading session. Brent crude oil futures traded lower after closing in the red on a volatile day on Tuesday.
Relative strength index (RSI) indicates that stocks like Avenue Supermarts, Cummins India, Apar Industries and Torrent Power are in the overbought zone.
Ipca Laboratories inks an agreement with Omexa Formulary to develop an anti-cancer biosimilar for the global market.
Lupin receives a Rs 477.3 crore income tax demand for the assessment year 2021-22 from the Income Tax Department. The company plans to file a rectification application and an appeal regarding the demand.
Tata Motors' EV business, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corp to set up EV charging infrastructure in the country. The companies are also planning to launch a co-branded radio-frequency Identification (RFID) card for a payment system at the charging stations.
According to BNP Paribas, increased raw material costs provide a new challenge for FMCG firms, possibly resulting in lower-than-projected Q4 profitability. The brokerage notes that rising raw material costs, such as crude oil, palm oil, and lactic acid bacteria used in dairy products, could affect margin estimates.
SRM Contractors' Rs 130.2 crore IPO gets bids for 10.8X the available 43.4 lakh shares on offer on the second day of bidding. The retail investor quota gets bids for 9.8X the available 21.7 lakh shares on offer.
Reliance Power rises as its arms Kalai Power and Reliance Cleangen settle debt worth Rs 1,023 crore with Authum Investment.
Tanla Platforms, Capri Global Capital, Suzlon Energy, and Vodafone Ideaunderperform their respective industries by more than 20% in the past month.
Sheetij Agarwal, Whole Time Director at Shyam Metalics and Energy, discusses plans for a greenfield expansion into aluminium rolled products with an investment of about Rs 450 crore. He also reveals that the company has secured a letter of intent for a composite license for the Surjagad-1 iron ore block, covering 1,526 hectares.
ICICI Direct retains its 'Buy' rating on PNC Infratech with an upgraded target price of Rs 550. This indicates a potential upside of 25.6%. The brokerage believes that the resultant cash from asset monetisation will free up capital and drive scalability for the company. It expects the company's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 11.4% over FY23-26.
HDFC Mutual Fund increases its shareholding in Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals by 2.4% to 9.5% as of March 22.
Gensol Engineering appoints Kapil K Nirmal as Chief Executive Officer for Solar EPC business in the Middle East.
ICICI Bank is facing criticism for allegedly trying to influence ICICI Securities' minority shareholders to support its proposal to delist the broking and investment banking division.
Aster DM Healthcare is plunging as equity firm, Olympus, reportedly offloads 5.1 crore shares (or 10.1% stake) in the company for Rs 2,070 crore in a block deal.
Adani Power rises as it receives the Competition Commission of India’s approval for the 100% acquisition of Lanco Amarkantak Power.
Caplin Point Laboratories rises as its arm, Caplin One Labs, starts operations at its Oncology facility at Kakkalur, near Chennai. The investment commitment for the facility is Rs 150 crore.
UBS upgrades ABB India to 'Buy' with an upgraded target price of Rs 7,550. The brokerage notes high double-digit growth across domestic and export orders, particularly from the motion and electrification segments. It expects a 23% increase in order inflow over 2023–26E.
Larsen & Toubro's buildings and factories vertical wins multiple orders worth Rs 2,500-5,000 crore from domestic and international markets. It secures a contract from the Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman, to construct a hospital and another to build a temple access corridor in Assam.
Prataap Snacks rises as it announces the commencement of commercial production at its new Jammu & Kashmir unit. It has a total capacity of about 10,000 MT per annum.
Sanofi India is rising after announcing a partnership with Cipla for the distribution and promotion of its central nervous system (CNS) product range in India. According to the partnership, Cipla will distribute six of Sanofi's CNS brands.
Aster DM Healthcare declines more than 6%, as 5.1 crore shares (10.1% equity), amounting to Rs 2,070 crore, reportedly change hands in a large trade.
Reliance Industries rises as Goldman Sachs maintains its 'Buy' rating on the stock with an upgraded target price of Rs 3,400. This indicates a potential upside of 15.2%. The brokerage predicts improvements in the company's overall performance as capex peaks in its retail and Jio Telecom sectors.
Central Depository Services (India) falls as Standard Chartered Bank is likely to sell its entire 7.2% stake for $151 million through a block deal.
Oil & gas stocks like Aegis Logistics, Reliance Industries, Castrol India and Oil India rise more than 2% in trade. All constituents of the broader Nifty Oil & Gas index are also trading in the green.
Piramal Enterprises invests Rs 2,000 crore in its subsidiary, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance, via a rights issue. The subsidiary will use the fund for business or general corporate purposes.
Riding High:
Largecap and midcap gainers today include Supreme Industries Ltd. (4,189.85, 6.1%), ABB India Ltd. (6,279.95, 5.9%) and NHPC Ltd. (89.90, 4.9%).
Downers:
Largecap and midcap losers today include Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (8,007.15, -4.8%), Solar Industries India Ltd. (8,879.75, -4.5%) and Relaxo Footwears Ltd. (782.75, -4.0%).
Volume Shockers
45 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.
Top high volume gainers on BSE included NLC India Ltd. (238.70, 11.0%), JM Financial Ltd. (77.90, 8.3%) and Lloyds Metals & Energy Ltd. (608, 7.4%).
Top high volume losers on BSE were Aster DM Healthcare Ltd. (405.55, -7.2%), Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (8,007.15, -4.8%) and Relaxo Footwears Ltd. (782.75, -4.0%).
Lakshmi Machine Works Ltd. (14,825, 2.6%) was trading at 74.2 times of weekly average. Prism Johnson Ltd. (177.90, 4.3%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Healthcare Ltd. (16,564.35, 0.3%) were trading with volumes 24.1 and 10.0 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.
BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages
23 stocks overperformed with 52-week highs, while 7 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52-week lows.
Stocks touching their year highs included - Bajaj Auto Ltd. (9,124.30, 1.8%), Indus Towers Ltd. (282.30, -0.5%) and Bosch Ltd. (30306.65, -1.2%).
Stocks making new 52-week lows included - Relaxo Footwears Ltd. (782.75, -4.0%) and Vinati Organics Ltd. (1,499.70, -3.8%).
18 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. (701.50, 7.0%) and Supreme Industries Ltd. (4189.85, 6.1%). 8 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including TV18 Broadcast Ltd. (46.50, -4.0%) and Garware Technical Fibres Ltd. (3,252.45, -2.7%).