Market trades higher, HPCL's board approves appointing Vikas Kaushal as the new Chairman and MD

By Trendlyne Analysis

Nifty 50 was trading at 22,489.30 (92.1, 0.4%), BSE Sensex was trading at 74,060.80 (231.9, 0.3%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 20,271.80 (95.8, 0.5%). Market breadth is in the red. Of the 2,446 stocks traded today, 896 were in the positive territory and 1,510 were negative.

Nifty 50 opens lower after dropping 44.1 points in the pre-opening session. Indian indices closed lower on Thursday. FIIs sold shares worth Rs 792.9 crore, while DIIs bought Rs 1,723.8 crore in Indian equities on the same day.

Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 open in the green. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty indices open higher. Nifty IT opens lower, despite the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closing 2.5% higher.

Most European indices closed in the green on Friday. Major Asian indices are trading higher, except Indonesia’s IDX Composite index, which trades 0.6% lower. US indices closed in the green on Friday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closing 1.7% and 2.1% higher after threats of a government shutdown reduced.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) falls sharply as it defaults on loan payments worth Rs 8,277.3 crore to a group of banks including Union Bank of India, Bank of India, State Bank of India, and Punjab National Bank among others.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp is rising as its board of directors approves the appointment of Vikas Kaushal as the new Chairman and Managing Director (MD) for the next five years, effective March 17. Hindustan Petroleum Corp is rising as its board of directors approves the appointment of Vikas Kaushal as the new Chairman and Managing Director (MD) for the next five years, effective March 17.
Indian Bank is rising as its board of directors schedules a meeting on March 20 to consider a fund-raising proposal.
Ajmera Realty & Infra India secures a project to redevelop the Ascot Co-operative Housing Society in Andheri West, Mumbai. The project is expected to generate sales revenue of Rs 320 crore, with a total estimated carpet area of 71,300 sq. ft. This development aligns with Ajmera Realty's strategy to diversify its portfolio through asset-light acquisitions, focusing on redevelopment projects.
Hindustan Construction is rising as its joint venture (JV) with Tata Projects bags an order worth Rs 2,191 crore from the Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corp (MPMRCL) to construct an 8.7 km corridor including underground tunnels and stations.
SAIL plans to invest Rs 30,000 crore to expand the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) to 9 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) to boost supply for defence, oil & gas, and automobile sectors. SAIL’s total steelmaking capacity stands at 20.3 MTPA, with RSP contributing 4.4 MTPA. The management projects that RSP will contribute 25% to SAIL’s 35 MTPA production target by 2030.
Antique Broking initiates coverage on Coromandel International with a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of Rs 2,280. The brokerage expects the company's revenue to grow at 9%, EBITDA at 16%, and PAT at 19% CAGR over FY25-27.
IndusInd Bank rises after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reassures its customers that the bank remains "well-capitalized" and financially stable. The central bank also instructs the board to resolve the estimated Rs 2,100 crore accounting discrepancy by the end of this month.

Shares of IndusInd Bank soared over 5 per cent in early trade on Monday after the RBI assured customers that the former remains ‘well-capitalised’ and is financially stable, writes @madhubalajihere https://t.co/RlEx09tY36
— businessline (@businessline) March 17, 2025
Welspun Corp bags an order worth Rs 2,400 crore from the US to supply coated pipes for natural gas pipeline projects.
Lupin is rising as it receives tentative approval from the US FDA for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Amifampridine tablets. The drug is a bioequivalent equivalent to Catalyst Pharma's Firdapse, used to treat Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in adults and pediatric patients. It has an estimated market size of $306 million for the year ending December 2024, according to IQVIA.
Hitachi Energy India rises sharply as it raises Rs 2,520 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) of 21.9 lakh shares at an issue price of Rs 11,507 per share.
India's WPI inflation rises to a two-month high of 2.4% in February, up from 2.3% in the previous month. This increase came despite a slowdown in food inflation, driven by higher inflation in manufactured goods.

#BREAKING???? India’s wholesale inflation rose to a two-month high of 2.38 percent in February compared with 2.3 percent in the previous month.#Inflation #GDP #Economy #WholesaleInflation pic.twitter.com/YjzGbRFOo6
— Moneycontrol (@moneycontrolcom) March 17, 2025
Ola Electric plunges to an all-time low of Rs 47.3 per share as Rosmerta Digital Services files an insolvency petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against its subsidiary, Ola Electric Technologies. This comes after alleged defaults from Ola Electric on payments to Rosmerta Digital for vehicle registration services.
Transformers & Rectifiers (India) rises sharply as it secures an order worth Rs 726 crore from Gujarat Energy Transmission Corp (GETCO) to manufacture and supply auto transformers and bus reactors.
The Ministry of Communications, Department of Telecommunications, awards Tejas Networks a Rs 123.45 crore PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme for telecom and networking products.
Maruti Suzuki India announces a price hike of up to 4% for its vehicles, effective April 1, 2025. This decision is driven by increasing input costs and operational expenses, which are impacting the company's profitability.

#MarutiSuzuki India to #hike car prices for the third time, starting April 2025@hormaz_fatakia https://t.co/5Y5Guoa7iC
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 17, 2025
Zydus Lifesciences is rising as it receives final approval from the US FDA to manufacture Eluxadoline Tablets. The drug is used for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D) and has a market size of $243.7 million for the yea ending January 2025, according to IQVIA.
Ceigall India is rising as it receives a letter of award (LoA) worth Rs 923 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to develop a 6-lane greenfield southern Ludhiana bypass as part of the Ludhiana-Ajmer Economic Corridor.
G R Infraprojects is rising as it secures an order worth Rs 4,262.8 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the Agra-Gwalior Greenfield Road project. The project includes building a six-lane, access-controlled highway from Deori (Agra) to Susera (Gwalior) and upgrading the existing Agra-Gwalior section of NH-44 with safety improvements.
KEC International is rising as it secures new orders worth Rs 1,267 crore across its businesses. Its transmission & distribution (T&D) business receives orders for transmission lines in India from Power Grid Corp of India (PGCIL) and for supplying towers, hardware, and poles in America. In the cables segment, it secures orders for various cables and conductors in India and overseas.
Nifty 50 was trading at 22,492.10 (94.9, 0.4%), BSE Sensex was trading at 73,946.77 (117.9, 0.2%), while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 20,260.30 (84.3, 0.4%).
Market breadth is surging up. Of the 2,051 stocks traded today, 1,455 were on the uptick, and 526 were down.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Coromandel International Ltd. (1,873.25, 4.2%), Muthoot Finance Ltd. (2,288.15, 4.2%) and Varun Beverages Ltd. (505.90, 3.6%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Thermax Ltd. (3,229.45, -4.2%), Tube Investments of India Ltd. (2,826.65, -3.4%) and LTIMindtree Ltd. (4,316.60, -3.4%).

Volume Rockets

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Elgi Equipments Ltd. (476.35, 7.4%), KEC International Ltd. (709.35, 5.6%) and Indian Energy Exchange Ltd. (162.05, 5.5%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were G R Infraprojects Ltd. (914.25, -4.7%) and Rainbow Childrens Medicare Ltd. (1,241.40, -1.5%).

Syngene International Ltd. (670.65, 0.7%) was trading at 5.4 times of weekly average. Bajaj Finserv Ltd. (1,869.75, 3.5%) was trading with volume 3.9 times weekly average on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

2 stocks overperformed with 52 week highs, while 32 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52 week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (1,991.85, 0.3%) and SRF Ltd. (2,981.25, 1%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - CCL Products India Ltd. (552.50, -3.1%) and Cera Sanitaryware Ltd. (5,091.45, -2.1%).

6 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Hitachi Energy India Ltd. (12,690.15, 5.5%) and Minda Corporation Ltd. (521.10, 2.1%). 5 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Aether Industries Ltd. (871.05, -2.3%) and Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd. (1,565.15, -1.8%).