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Indices drift lower in early trade; Nifty below 16,950

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Capital Market
The frontline indices were trading with major losses in early trade. Negative global cues dented investors sentiment. The Nifty traded below the 16,950 level. All the sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the red.

At 09:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 380.16 points or 0.66% to 57,609.74. The Nifty 50 index lost 163.90 points or 0.96% to 16,936.15.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.71% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.42%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,018 shares rose and 1,683 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,766.53 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,817.14 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 March, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Consumer Products fell 0.96%. The company has ceased negotiations with Bisleri with regard to a potential transaction and to confirm that the company has not entered into any definitive agreement or binding commitment on this matter.

Navin Fluorine International rose 0.96%. The board of Navin Fluorine Advanced Sciences (NFASL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company has approved a capital expenditure of Rs 450 crore for setting up a new 40,000 tonnes per annum hydrofluoric acid capacity at Dahej.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals down 0.38%. The USFDA conducted Pre-Approval Inspection [PAI] of Oral-Oncology manufacturing facility at Bileshwarpura, Gujarat from 13 March 2023 to 17 March 2023. At the end of the inspection, it has issued a 'Form 483' with 1 observation, which is procedural in nature.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.338 from 7.354 in previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.4825, compared with its close of 82.5950 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement lost 0.04% to Rs 59,361.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.16% to 103.87.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 1.37% to 3.444.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement shed 41 cents or 0.56% to $72.56 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are mostly trading lower on Monday after UBS agreed to buy its banking rival Credit Suisse in a $3.2 billion takeover over the weekend.

The People's Bank of China left the loan prime rates for 1-year and 5-year unchanged, after cutting the reserve requirement ratio for almost all banks by 0.25 percentage points last week. The 1-year LPR stayed at 3.65% while the 5-year LPR remained at 4.3%, both unchanged since August last year.

UBS Group AG, Switzerland's largest banking group, has agreed to acquire the crisis-hit Credit Suisse Group AG in a $3.23-billion deal. Swiss regulators played a key role in facilitating the deal in an effort to quell a contagion threatening the banking sector. Under the deal, Credit Suisse shareholders will receive one UBS share for every 22.48 Credit Suisse shares. The combined bank will have $5 trillion of invested assets, according to UBS.

Wall Street closed lower on Friday as investors pulled back from positions in bank shares amid lingering concerns over the state of the U.S. banking sector.

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First Published: Mar 20 2023 | 9:35 AM IST

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