As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 566.09 points or 0.94% at 59,610.59. The Nifty 50 index shed 149.75 points or 0.83% at 17,807.75.
The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.41% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.38%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, shares 2,168 rose and 1,248 shares fell. A total of 96 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 53.6 in March 2022 from 51.8 in February 2022. The indices vary between 0 and 100, with a reading above 50 indicating an overall increase compared to the previous month, and below 50 an overall decrease. The indices are then seasonally adjusted.
The latest number pointed to the strongest rate of expansion since last December. The upturn stemmed from new business wins, strengthening demand conditions and greater consumer footfall due to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, the S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index stood at 54.3 in March, up from 53.5 in February. The number highlighted the strongest rate of expansion in 2022 so far. Manufacturers signalled a sharper increase than service providers, but growth slowed among the former and accelerated at the latter.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Maruti Suzuki fell 0.37%. The car major announced that it will hike prices of its products in April 2022. Over the past year, Maruti said the cost of vehicles continue to be adversely impacted due to increase in various input costs. "Therefore, it has become imperative for the Company to pass on some impact of the above additional costs to customers through a price hike," the company said in a statement today, 6 April 2022.
Marico fell 4% after the company said that FMCG volumes declined in the January-February 2022 period on a year-on-year basis. The FMCG major said that in Q4 quarter, consumption trends remained subdued amid weak rural sentiment and inflation in global commodities due to geopolitical tensions. Consolidated revenue growth in the quarter touched high single digits, it said. The company expects a "marginal growth" in profits in Q4 due to a rise in input costs and higher advertising and promotional spending. "While companies affected price hikes across FMCG categories to cope with the cost-push, persistent inflation continued to hurt consumer wallets across rural and urban," it added.
Coastal Corporation jumped 5.48% after the company announced that it will soon commence operations at its new plant (Unit III) at Kakinada SEZ in Andhra Pradesh. The company said it invested Rs 70 crore in Unit III. The facility is a completely integrated and has production capacity of 35 MTPD. The trial production at the facility was conducted on 5 April 2022 and the commercial production will start in the next 10 to 15 days.
Indian Energy Exchange added 0.41%. The company on Wednesday announced that it traded 9,605 MU electricity volume and achieved 16% year on year growth in March 2022. Out of the total traded volume, 8,702 MU came in the conventional power market, 392 MU from the green power market and 511 MU in the REC Market. For Q4 FY22, IEX achieved 27,017 MU volume and achieved 20% YoY growth across all its market segments.
Angel One rose 0.22%. The brokerage house said that its client base rose 5.2% to 9.21 million in March 2022 as against 8.76 million in February 2022. The company's client base surged 123.7% YoY as against 4.12 million in March 2021. Gross client acquisition was 0.48 million in March 2022 compared with 0.45 million in February 2022 (up 6%) and 0.38 million in March 2021 (up 26.4%).
RBL Bank declined 1.17%. The private lender's total deposits stood at Rs 79,005 crore as of 31 March 2022, recording a growth of 8% over Rs 73,121 crore as of 31 March 2021 and a rise of 7% over Rs 73,639 crore as of 31 December 2021. The bank reported a 13% growth in Retail LCR deposits to Rs 30,681 crore as of 31 March 2022 as against Rs 27,236 crore as of 31 March 2021 and 10% increase from Rs 27,889 crore as compared to 31 December 2021. CASA was at Rs 27,878 crore as of 31 March 2022, recording a growth of 20% over Rs 23,264 crore as of 31 March 2021 and a growth of 10% over Rs 25,318 crore as of 31 December 2021. CASA ratio stood at 35.3% in Q4 FY2022 as compared to 31.8% in Q4 FY2021 and 34.4% in Q3 FY2022. Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) ratio was at 140% in Q4 FY22 as compared to 154% in Q4 FY2021 and 146% in Q3 FY22.
Force Motors rose 0.63%. The company announced that its domestic sales increased by 46% YoY to 2,392 units in March 2022. Export sales aggregated to 298 units, down 30% YoY. The company said its production in March 2022 declined by 7% year on year to 1,830 units.
TVS Motor Company gained 1.46%. Jio-bp and TVS Motor Company announced their plans to explore the creation of a public EV charging infrastructure for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers in the country, building on Jio-bp's growing network in this space. Under this proposed partnership, the customers of TVS electric vehicles are expected to get access to the widespread charging network of Jio-bp, which is also open to other vehicles.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday, against a backdrop of hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials and further sanctions against Russia. Global investors also await the details of fresh international sanctions against Russia after allegations emerged of civilian killings in Ukrainian towns now recaptured from Russian forces. The European Commission on Tuesday proposed banning Russian coal as part of its next round of sanctions.
China's Caixin Services Purchasing Managers' Index declined to 42.0 in March, well below February's reading of 50.2 as well as the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Wednesday's reading was also the lowest since February 2020.
Wall Street's main indices fell on Tuesday, dragged by weakness in tech and other growth stocks, after comments from Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard spooked investors about potential aggressive actions by the central bank to control inflation.
Brainard, who is typically considered one of the more dovish Fed members, said the central bank needs to shrink its balance sheet rapidly to drive down inflation. Inflation is much too high and is subject to upside risks, she said, noting the Fed needed a steady pace of rate hikes as well.
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