Nifty 50 closed at 21,817.45 (-238.3, -1.1%), BSE Sensex closed at 72,012.05 (-736.4, -1.0%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 19,610.55 (-232.6, -1.2%). Market breadth is overwhelmingly negative. Of the 2,107 stocks traded today, 554 showed gains, and 1,522 showed losses.

Indian indices extended their losses from the afternoon session and closed in the red. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, rose 1.5% and closed at 14.1 points. Jindal Stainless formed a partnership with JBM Auto to manufacture 500 lightweight stainless steel electric buses.

Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed in the red, taking cues from the benchmark index. Nifty Media and Nifty IT closed sharply lower than their Monday close.  According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, Software & Services emerged as the worst-performing sector of the day, with a fall of 2.8%.

Major Asian indices closed in the red, except for Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which closed higher after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates for the first time in 17 years. European indices traded flat or higher amid mixed global cues. US index futures traded flat or lower, indicating a cautious start to the trading session. Brent crude oil futures traded lower after rising for four straight trading sessions.

• Money flow index (MFI) indicates that stocks like Colgate-Palmolive (India), Oracle Financial Services Software and Linde India are in the overbought zone.

• Manappuram Finance's board of directors approves fundraising of Rs 6,000 crore in multiple tranches through different instruments.

• Central Bank of India signs an agreement with PPFAS Asset Management to distribute PPFAS AMC's mutual fund products through a do-it-yourself (DIY) model.

• FMCG stocks like Colgate-Palmolive (India), Tata Consumer Products, Britannia Industries and United Breweries are falling in trade. The broader sectoral indices, Nifty FMCG and BSE FMCG, are also trading in the red.

• Vivek Gupta, CEO and Managing Director of United Breweries, reports a positive initial response to their new beer brand, Queenfisher, and plans to launch it nationwide by year-end. He adds that the company is focusing on driving category growth and gaining market share across all categories.

  "Have solid plans of growing premium portfolio," Vivek Gupta, United Breweries says pic.twitter.com/Qe6hJKJVo0

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) March 19, 2024

• Bharat Heavy Electricals reportedly bags an order to set up a 1,600 MW Singrauli Supercritical Thermal Power Plant (STPP) Stage-III from NTPC.

• Jindal Stainless forms a partnership with JBM Auto to manufacture 500 lightweight stainless steel electric buses. As per the deal, Jindal Stainless will supply JT Tubes, crafted from low-carbon, chromium-manganese austenitic stainless steel, to JBM Auto.

• REC's board approves a third interim dividend of Rs 4.5 per share for FY24, with the record date set for March 28, 2024.

• According to reports, the Income Tax Department has collected outstanding dues of Rs 73,500 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24 up to March. Of this total, corporate tax contributed Rs 56,000 crore, and personal income tax made up Rs 16,500 crore. This marks a notable rise from the previous year's collection of over Rs 52,000 crore.

  I-T dept recovers Rs 73,500 cr in pending dues for #FY24. This recovery marks a substantial increase compared to the previous year's collection of over Rs 52,000 cr.#incometax https://t.co/tCIxH0JXL5

  — Business Standard (@bsindia) March 19, 2024

• Bondada Engineering surges to its 5% upper circuit as it bags an order worth Rs 433.9 crore from Singareni Collieries to set up a 67.5 MW solar power plant.

• KR Choksey keeps its 'Buy' rating on Varun Beverages with a target price of Rs 1,732. This indicates a potential upside of 22.5%. The brokerage forecasts sustained volume growth across the company's segments, driven by room for distribution expansion and focus on incremental growth from smaller categories. It expects the company's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 24.8% over FY23-25.

• Patanjali Foods falls as the Supreme Court reportedly issues a contempt notice related to a case of misleading advertisements.

• Asset managers are adding more cash to their holdings, with equity mutual funds' cash reserves rising for the second consecutive month in February to 4.8% of their total assets under management (AUM) at Rs 1.3 lakh crore, according to AMFI data.

  February month data shows that the total cash pile at equity mutual funds rose for the second consecutive month to 4.82% of total assets under management at Rs 1.33 lakh crore@nikkhill https://t.co/NquiYFpWz3

  — ETMarkets (@ETMarkets) March 19, 2024

• IT stocks like L&T Technology Services, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Persistent Systems are falling in trade. The broader sectoral index, Nifty IT, is also trading in the red.

• Abbott India is falling as Managing Director Vivek V Kamath resigns, effective Monday, to pursue opportunities outside the company.

• JBM Auto rises its arm, JBM Ecolife Mobility, wins a Rs 7,500 crore order to supply 1,390 electric buses and develop allied electric and civil Infrastructure.

• Chetan Ahya, Morgan Stanley's chief Asia economist, believes India is unlikely to achieve China's remarkable economic growth rates. He expects India's GDP to grow steadily at an average of 6.5-7% over the next three decades, not reaching China's average 10% growth following its 1978 economic reforms.

  Morgan Stanley's chief Asia economist said it is "unlikely" that India could match China's impressive economic growth rates, Bloomberg reported.
  
  The investment bank is however optimistic about the country's growth prospects, it added.https://t.co/9zDwY5ti94

  — Mint (@livemint) March 19, 2024

• Paradeep Phosphates falls sharply as it temporarily shuts down its ammonia and urea plants in Goa due to a malfunction in its synthesis gas compressor.

• Popular Vehicles and Services’ shares debut on the bourses at a 2% discount to the issue price of Rs 295. The Rs 601.5 crore IPO has received bids for 1.2 times the total shares on offer.

• Poonawalla Fincorp is rising as it appoints Arvind Kapil, formerly of HDFC Bank, as its new managing director and chief executive officer (CEO).

• According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the Centre has extended urea imports through India Potash, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers, and National Fertilizers until March 31, 2025. The Department of Fertilizers permits urea imports for agricultural use on government accounts via specified State Trading Enterprises or approved fertilizer marketing entities.

  Centre allows urea imports by state-owned fertiliser companies until March 2025https://t.co/igJ1KHHgVM

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 19, 2024

• Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp approves acquiring ICT Infrastructure for Rs 187.2 crore to set up a disaster recovery site at Secunderabad. This will include a capex of Rs 92.8 crore.

• Tata Steel is rising, even as its subsidiary, Tata Steel UK, halts the operation of coke ovens at its Port Talbot plant in Wales due to a decline in operational stability. The company plans to increase coke imports to offset the closures.

• HG Infra Engineering bags four orders worth Rs 1,026 crore from Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam to set up transmission infrastructure at its solar power projects.

• Tata Consultancy Services is falling amid reports that its promoter, Tata Sons, plans to sell 2.3 crore shares (a 0.6% stake) at a floor price of Rs 4,001 per share, totalling to Rs 9,362 crore.

• Nifty 50 was trading at 21,961.20 (-94.5, -0.4%), BSE Sensex was trading at 72,431.24 (-317.2, -0.4%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 19,785.20 (-57.9, -0.3%).

• Market breadth is in the green. Of the 1,805 stocks traded today, 945 were in the positive territory and 788 were negative.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include One97 Communications Ltd. (407, 4.6%), Torrent Power Ltd. (1,239.50, 4.1%) and CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. (479.75, 2%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Gujarat Gas Ltd. (517, -4.7%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd. (2,606, -4.7%) and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (3,971, -4.4%).

Movers and Shakers

10 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Triveni Turbine Ltd. (486.90, 5.5%), Radico Khaitan Ltd. (1,625.10, 3.2%) and Piramal Pharma Ltd. (120.20, 2.9%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were eClerx Services Ltd. (2,338.90, -5.0%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (3,971, -4.4%) and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. (461.95, -2.7%).

Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd. (545.05, -1.4%) was trading at 27.1 times of weekly average. Blue Dart Express Ltd. (5,494, -1.7%) and Procter & Gamble Health Ltd. (4880, -0.4%) were trading with volumes 10.2 and 7.5 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

4 stocks took off, crossing 52 week highs, while 8 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52 week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Bharti Airtel Ltd. (1,225.40, 0.0%), Crisil Ltd. (4,981.95, -4.6%) and InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (3,233.10, -0.5%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - Atul Ltd. (5,910, -1.7%) and Bata India Ltd. (1,375.15, -0.2%).

11 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd. (153.85, 1.0%) and Shoppers Stop Ltd. (775, 0.9%). 12 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including SIS Ltd. (430, -5.4%) and Patanjali Foods Ltd. (1,355.25, -4.2%).