Trade Setup: Top 15 things to know before market opens on February 24, 2022

Energy, Capital Goods, and Auto sectors drove Indian equity indices down for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday, wiping away all of their early gains. Markets opened higher as traders were encouraged by data from the Commerce Ministry showing that the country’s merchandise exports increased by 26.4% to $25.33 billion this month through February 21 due to strong performance by sectors such as gems and jewellery, engineering, textiles, and chemicals.

The Nifty50 has formed a triangular pattern on the daily chart and appears to be consolidating within the pattern, according to Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“The lower end of the pattern is at 16,800 and the upper near 17,300. It is expected to witness further consolidation in this range, after which, it can resume the larger uptrend,” he said.

Indian Indices

Sensex declined 68.62 points or 0.12% to 57,232.06 and Nifty was down by 28.95 points or 0.17% to 17,063.25 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 57,733.37 and 57,109.24, respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 17,220.70 and 17,027.85 and there were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

Broader Indices

The broader ended in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.60%, while the Small cap index was up by 0.93%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.20%, Consumer Durables up by 1.38%, Utilities up by 1.03%, Power up by 0.71%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.69%, while Energy down by 0.54%, Capital Goods down by 0.25%, Auto down by 0.25%, Oil & Gas down by 0.16% and Finance down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

Support and Resistance levels

Key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 16,987, followed by 16,911. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,180 and 17,297, according to pivot charts.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 88-points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 16,811.80 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:45 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.93% and the Hang Seng rose 0.62%. The Nikkei 225 lost 1.71%.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 79.26 points, or 1.8%, to 4,225.50.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 464.85 points, or 1.4%, to 33,131.76.

The Nasdaq fell 344.03 points, or 2.6%, to 13,037.49.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 36.08 points, or 1.8%, to 1,944.09.

European Markets

European markets finished mixed to lower. Shares in Germany fell as the DAX dropped 0.52%. The CAC 40 lost 0.11% while the FTSE 100 in London closed unchanged.

Vedanta to consider third interim dividend on March 2

Vedanta Ltd on February 23 said its board of directors will consider on March 2 a third interim dividend for fiscal year 2021-22. “The board of directors of the company on Wednesday, March 02, 2022, will consider and approve third interim dividend on equity shares, if any, for the financial year 2021-22,” the company informed the stock exchanges. “The record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement of the equity shareholders for the said dividend, if declared, is being fixed as Thursday, March 10, 2022,” the regulatory filing further said. Vedanta also noted that the trading window for all shares will remain shut for a period ranging from February 24 to March 4, in accordance to SEBI norms and the rules that are aimed at prohibiting insider trading.

RBI has asked NBFCs to implement a core financial services solution by September 2025

Reserve Bank on Wednesday asked certain classes of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) to mandatorily implement ‘Core Financial Services Solution (CFSS)’ by September 30, 2025, in order to provide a seamless customer interface as well as have a centralised database. In a circular, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has been decided that NBFCs – Middle Layer and NBFCs – Upper Layer with 10 and more ‘fixed point service delivery units’ as of October 1, 2022, shall be mandatorily required to implement CFSS. CFSS is akin to the Core Banking Solution (CBS) adopted by banks. “CFSS shall provide for seamless customer interface in digital offerings and transactions relating to products and services with anywhere/ anytime facility, enable integration of NBFCs’ functions, provide centralised database and accounting records, and be able to generate suitable MIS, both for internal purposes and regulatory reporting,” it said.

Vodafone Group in talks to sell 5% stake in Indus Towers to Bharti Airtel: Report

British telecom giant Vodafone is looking to sell around 5% of its stake in tower firm Indus Towers Ltd to Bharti Airtel, the telecom group said on Wednesday.The company is in discussions to sell around a 5% stake in Indus Towers valued at over Rs 3,300 crore to Bharti Airtel, according to a report by PTI. Vodafone currently owns around 28% stake in Indus Towers. According to the PTI report, the proceeds from the sale will be invested into the loss-making Indian unit Vodafone Idea. In a recent investor call, Vodafone Idea management fixed March end as the deadline for raising capital to finance its operations. Vodafone India has faced fierce competition and lost millions of wireless subscribers to Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in recent years, so this development comes after a trying period for the company.

Bikaji Foods International files DRHP with SEBI to raise Rs 1,000 crore

FMCG company Bikaji Foods International, a leading snacks and sweets manufacturer, has filed draft papers with market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public offer (IPO) of around Rs 1,000 crore. The Rajasthan-based firm will offload 29.4 million shares through the offer for sale (OFS). Promoters Shiv Ratan Agarwal and Deepak Aggarwal will be selling 25 lakh shares each. Along with the promoters, private equity firm Lighthouse Advisors and investment firm IIFL Securities, who are investors in the company will be selling shares. According to the filing Lighthouse Advisors (or India 2020 Maharaja Ltd) holds around 7% stake in the company and IIFL holds a 6.5% stake.  Lighthouse Advisors will offload around 1.21 crore equity shares for sale while IIFL Special Opportunities Fund will offer 1.1 crore shares. Bikaji Foods is looking to raise Rs 1000 crore at a valuation of about $1 billion, according to a report by the Economic Times. According to the filling, the IPO is completely an OFS hence the selling shareholders will be entitled to the entire proceeds of the offer and not the company.

India likely to become the 3rd largest economy by 2030, says Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Managing Director and Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said that Asia is leading towards an inclusive global economy and India is likely to overtake countries to become the 3rd largest economy by 2030. India’s growth story will be more exciting in the coming decades. It is India’s time, he said while talking to Dr Raghunath Anant Mashelkar at the Asia Economic Dialogue. India could become a global green energy superpower with exports of clean energy rising to $500 billion over the next 20 years, said Ambani, reports Reuters. Several Indian companies, including Reliance, have announced plans worth billions of dollars to boost India’s renewable energy capacity, including building battery storage, fuel cells, and producing green hydrogen for less than $1 per kilogram.

Bulk Deal data

ANUMOLU BHARAT sold 3,01,421 shares of Beardsell Limited at Rs 13.56 per share on NSE.

SONALI GARG bought 60,000 shares in A B Cotspin India Limited at Rs 51.86 per share on the NSE.

MANISHA UDAY SINGALA sold 2,50,000 equity shares in Shree Ram Proteins Ltd. at Rs 112.90 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.

RAJASTHAN GLOBAL SECURITIES PVT LTD picked up 1,63,032 equity shares in Btrfly Gandhi Appl Ltd at Rs 1395.52 per share respectively on the NSE.

LALITA JAYKUMAR PATHARE sold 5,83,199 shares in Vip Clothing Ltd. at Rs 22.98 per share on the NSE.

DHYANAM CAPITAL bought 2,64,000 shares of Vaidya Sane Ayur Lab Ltd at Rs 101.77 per share on NSE.

OMKAM CAPITAL MARKETS PRIVATE LIMITED sold 253,59,573 shares in Visesh Infotecnics Limite at Rs 1.37 per share on the NSE.

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 3,417.16 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 3,024.37 crore in the Indian equity market on February 23, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

Idea, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Punjab National Bank are under the F&O ban for February 24. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.