The key equity barometers ended with decent gains after a volatile session on Wednesday, rising for the third straight session. The Nifty 50 index opened lower and hit the day's low of 17,602.25 in early trade. The index bounced back in late trade and hit the day's high of 17,766.50 at the fag end of the trading session. Autos, oil & gas and PSU banks were in demand. On the other hand, realty, healthcare and pharma shares declined.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 123.63 points or 0.21% to 60,348.09. The Nifty 50 index added 42.95 points or 0.24% to 17,754.40. In three consecutive sessions, the Sensex gained 2.44% while the Nifty increased 2.5%.
Indusind Bank (up 4.75%), Larsen & Toubro (up 1.37%) and ITC (up 1.06%) boosted the indices.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.28%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,862 shares rose and 1,617 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, added 1.48% to 12.45.
Investors' sentiment took a hit after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's stated that the central bank will likely need to raise interest rates for a longer period. He said that the Fed is all set to take larger rate hikes following strong economic data and will likely move in larger steps if future economic data indicates tougher measures to control inflation.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced to 7.464 from 7.418 previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.03, compared with its close of 81.9250 during the previous trading session
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement declined 0.20% to Rs 54,914.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.07% to 105.69.
The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 0.26% to 3.985.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement added 10 cents or 0.12% to $83.39 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Most shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday, as investors react to the latest comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve's Chairman Jerome Powell indicating interest rates may need to go higher for longer.
Japan's seasonally adjusted current account balance rose to 216.3 billion yen ($1.57 billion) in January, government data showed on Wednesday. The surplus in balance saw a sharp drop from December's balance of 1.18 trillion yen and November's balance of 1.92 trillion yen.
China on Tuesday saw exports fall by 6.8% in February in U.S. dollar terms and imports also declined 10.2%.
Overnight in the US, major stock indexes declined following Fed Chair Powell cautioning lawmakers that the central bank's terminal rate will likely be higher than previously anticipated due to stubbornly high economic data in recent weeks. Powell was on Capitol Hill Tuesday for the first part of his two-day semiannual monetary policy testimony before Congress.
The Dow Jones closed nearly 575 points lower and turned negative for 2023. The S&P 500 slid 1.53% to close below the key 4,000 threshold, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.25%. The sharp decline for stocks was accompanied by a spike in bond yields, with the rate on the 2-year Treasury surpassing 5% and touching the highest level since 2007.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Shares of seven Adani Group advanced after the Adani Group said its promoters have prepaid share backed financing of Rs 7,374 crore ahead of its latest maturity in April 2025.
A total of 23.3 crore shares will be released as part of the latest prepayment, the conglomerate said on Tuesday (7 March 2023). Along with the repayments done earlier in the month of February, Adani has prepaid $2,016 million of share backed financing, which is consistent with promoters' commitment to prepay all share backed financing before 31 March 2023.
Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Wilmar, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Power were up by 0.86% to 5%.
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) jumped 5.68% while Larsen & Toubro (L&T) added 1.37%. The Union Ministry of Defence on Tuesday signed two separate contracts with state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro for 70 Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) basic trainer aircraft and three cadet training ships, respectively, at a cumulative cost of Rs 9,900 crore.
GAIL (India) rose 1.97% after the company said its board will consider interim dividend on Monday, 13 March 2023.
Meanwhile, in a separate announcement GAIL (India) said "The Force Majeure claimed by SEFE Marketing & Trading Singapore Pte Ltd. (SMTS and erstwhile Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore Pte Ltd.) is still continuing. Pending restoration of LNG supplies from SMTS, production at our Pata Petrochemical plant has been ramped up now to full capacity through alternative supplies."
In 2012, GAIL had agreed to a 20-year deal with Russia's Gazprom for annual purchases of an average 2.5 million tonnes of LNG. Supplies under the contract began in 2018. However, Gazprom halted supplies of natural gas to GAIL (India) since June 2022 due to soaring global gas prices.
Ajanta Pharma surged 5.17%. The drug maker's board will consider a share buyback on 10 March 2023.
Deccan Gold Mines hit an upper circuit of 5%. The company has emerged as the highest bidder in e-auction for Bhalukona - Jamnidih Nickel, Chromium and Associated PGE Block in Chhattisgarh.
Artson Engineering gained 0.30%. The company has received purchase order worth Rs 14.49 crore from Tata Projects. The order is for supplying pressure vessels and its mandatory, erection & commissioning spares.
Dishman Carbogen Amcis jumped 6.26%. The company said that its board will consider fund raising through issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on Friday, 10 March 2023.
Indraprastha Gas (IGL) rose 0.45%. The company entered into joint venture agreement (JV) with Genesis Gas Solutions (Genesis) to set up smart meter manufacturing plant with capital expenditure of Rs 110 crore.
Natco Pharma rose 0.40%. The pharma company announced that its board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 210 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 700 per equity share through open market route.
Zydus Lifesciences slipped 0.78%. The drug maker has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Lenalidomide capsules, 2.5 mg and 20 mg (USRLD: Revlimid capsules). The drug is used to treat various types of cancers.
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