Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Indices end higher after a choppy session, Nifty hold 10100; IT stocks gain

All that happened in the market today

SI Reporter New Delhi
Markets, Stocks, BSE, NSE
Markets, Stocks, BSE, NSE

Last Updated : Mar 20 2018 | 3:48 PM IST

Key Events

3:42 PM

Market rundown by Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder and Head of Trading, Zerodha
 
Markets opened lower in  trade Tuesday on the back of weaker global cues; the downtick was soon bought into with markets rallying post 10 am to close up for the session overall. Banks were weak in trade today, with public sector banks underperforming again, Oil marketing companies were weak in trade today, whereas auto and metals were the best performers of the session.
 
Overall markets seem to have reached oversold territory in the short term, and we would recommend entering fresh positions at this juncture with a long-term view towards portfolio building."

3:40 PM

Nifty IT index ends 1.51% higher. Top gainers:

COMPANY LATEST PREV CLOSE GAIN(
)
GAIN(%) VOLUME
TECH MAHINDRA 634.90 609.90 25.00 4.10 3262256
KPIT TECH. 231.65 226.20 5.45 2.41 2490492
INFOSYS 1169.40 1146.75 22.65 1.98 4169811
WIPRO 293.90 288.65 5.25 1.82 2676359
TCS 2870.15 2831.00 39.15 1.38 1963055

3:37 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:35 PM

BSE Sensex: Tata Steel top gainer of the day, ONGC top loser

3:32 PM

Market at close
 
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 32,997, up 74 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,124, up 30 points.

3:23 PM

I-T Dept says no to Sebi plea for tax exemption for unified broking licence

Indian tax authorities are not willing to concede the request of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to provide one-time tax exemption to trading members of stock and commodity exchanges to do both businesses under one entity. READ MORE

3:16 PM

PNB woes spur Goldman to downgrade India's economic growth forecasts

Investment bank Goldman Sachs downgraded its forecasts for India's economy on Tuesday in the wake of a more than $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank, warning it could spark tighter regulation of the banking sector that would constrain credit growth.

In a note to clients, Goldman Sachs lowered its real gross domestic product (GDP) forecast on India for the year to March 2019 to 7.6 percent from 8 percent earlier. READ MORE

3:05 PM

Gold rebounds on jewellers' buying

Gold prices bounced back by Rs 210 to Rs 31,390 per 10 grams at the bullion market today on fresh buying by local jewellers, shrugging off a weak trend overseas. READ MORE

2:55 PM

Europe Trade

European markets edged higher as investors focused on earnings ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.
 
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.32 per cent higher with almost every sector trading in positive territory.
 
Investors were monitoring a Federal Reserve meeting that starts today. The central bank is expected to announce a rate hike, which could have repercussions in the bond and equity markets.

2:45 PM

USFDA approvals can unlock $1 bn biosimilar business for Biocon in the US
 
Biocon Ltd, the only Indian drugmaker to win approval to sell copies of a biologic drug in the US, expects its business in that nascent sector will generate $1 billion in revenue by 2025 as it clears further regulatory hurdles this year.
 
The company’s other leading drug candidates are back on track for approval after hiccups in the US and Europe, said Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in an interview. Biocon is also exploring the sale of part of its stake in its publicly traded contract research arm, Syngene International Ltd., to fund its growing ambitions in the biologics business, she said. The stake is worth about $1.2 billion. READ MORE

2:34 PM

Most active stocks by value

COMPANY PRICE(
)
CHG(
)
CHG(%) VALUE(
 CR)
TATA STEEL 593.45 18.40 3.20 68.23
INFOSYS 1161.30 14.15 1.23 61.14
EDELWEISS.FIN. 253.65 0.30 0.12 56.69
KOTAK MAH. BANK 1047.10 -4.25 -0.40 55.34
ICICI BANK 291.80 -3.20 -1.08 53.66

2:17 PM

JBF Industries nears four-year low; tanks 27% in two trading days
 
JBF Industries was quoting close to its four year low at Rs 104, down 9%, falling 27% from Rs 143 in past two trading days on the BSE. The stock is trading at its lowest level since May 27, 2014.
 
Since February 8, 2018, JBF Industries tanked 44% from Rs 185 after reported a weak set of numbers for the quarter ended December 2017 (Q3FY18). On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 4% during the same period. READ MORE

2:01 PM

Market Check

 
S&P BSE Sensex 32,974.77
0.16%
 
Nifty 50 10,118.20
0.24%
 
S&P BSE 200 4,423.73
0.16%
 
Nifty 500 8,910.65
0.19%
 
S&P BSE Mid-Cap 15,973.26
0.06%
 
S&P BSE Small-Cap 17,183.98
-0.26%

1:45 PM

Sugar mills urge govt to re-introduce minimum indicative export quota

Hit by a sustained fall in prices for their output, sugar mills have urged the central government to re-introduce the earlier Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ).

Introduced in September 2015 for sugar season 2015-16, this had allowed mills to export (the Centre has to permit any shipment) a cumulative four million tonnes (mt) of white sugar, with allocations up to a cap among mills, within a specified period. The aim was to cut surplus stock within the country. READ MORE

1:30 PM

Cipla rebounds after clarification on USFDA observations for Goa unit

Cipla has moved higher to Rs 558, bouncing back 7% from its early morning low on the BSE, after the company said that the observations received from the US drug regulator are procedural in nature. READ MORE

Sensex, Nifty rose on Tuesday amid choppy trade led by financial and IT stocks, but the gains were capped as material stocks such as Vedanta stumbled on losses in Chinese iron ore prices.

IT stocks rose after three sessions of falls, with the Nifty IT index up over 1 per cent. Infosys advanced 1.7 per cent, while Tech Mahindra rose over 4 per cent.

Meanwhile, metal stocks slipped as Chinese iron ore prices fell further, a day after posting their biggest daily drop in almost 10 months. The Nifty metal index fell as much as 2.5 per cent in intra-day deals but later trimmed losses to end flat.          

That apart, investors will be looking forward to the latest developments in the parliament following the no-confidence motion moved by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) after it broke away from the BJP-led NDA following the Centre's refusal to grant Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP members of Parliament (MPs) today protested in Parliament premises, demanding a special category status for the state of Andhra Pradesh. In a bizarre move, MP Naramalli Sivaprasad joined the protest dressed up as a schoolboy, wearing shorts & carrying a notebook.

In the global markets, Asian shares fell on Tuesday as investors dumped high-flying US technology shares on fears of stiffer regulation as Facebook came under fire following reports it allowed improper access to user data.

The retreat came as investors braced for new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s first policy meeting starting later in the day and amid concerns that US President Donald Trump could impose additional protectionist trade measures.

(with inputs from Reuters)

First Published: Mar 20 2018 | 3:30 PM IST