Indian equity indices held on to robust gains throughout the day and concluded with gains of nearly 2% on Thursday, amid a broad-based rally fueled by the Fed’s first rate rise in more than three years and bullish rhetoric on the world’s largest economy. In line with the previous session, the benchmark opened with a gap-up, as sentiments were boosted by a private report stating that private equity and venture capital investments in February 2022 totalled $5.8 billion, 2.3 times the value recorded in February 2021 ($2.5 billion) and 24% higher than investments in January 2022 ($4.6 billion).
The Nifty50 has formed a long bull candle on the daily chart with the two-back-to-back gap-ups remaining unfilled, suggesting a sharp up move ahead, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.
“One may expect another opening gap-up this week,” he said.
Sensex rose 1047.28 points or 1.84% to 57,863.93 and Nifty was up by 311.70 points or 1.84% to 17,287.05 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 58,095.84 and 57,518.06, respectively. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 17,344.60 and 17,175.75. There were 46 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.
Broader Indices
The broader indices ended in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 1.07%, while the Small cap index was up by 1.18%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.14%, Consumer Durables up by 2.73%, Energy up by 2.68%, Finance up by 2.55% and Auto up by 2.15%, while IT down by 0.43%, TECK down by 0.26% were the few losing indices on BSE.
Support and Resistance levels
The key support level for the Nifty is placed at 17,194, followed by 17,100. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,363 and 17,438, according to pivot charts.
SGX Nifty
The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 74-points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,399.20 on the Singaporean Exchange around 07:40 hours IST.
Asian Markets
Asian markets finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite gained 6.11% and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.65%. The Hang Seng lost 0.09%.
The S&P 500 rose 51.45 points, or 1.2%, to 4,463.12.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 274.17 points, 0.8%, to 34,754.93.
The Nasdaq rose 279.06 points, or 2%, to 13,893.84.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 21.12 points, or 1%, to 2,086.14.
European Markets
European markets finished higher on Friday with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 was up 0.26% while Germany’s DAX was up 0.17% and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.12%.
Price of diesel for bulk consumers increased by Rs 25 per litre
The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, sources said. Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers. Worst hit are private retailers like Nayara Energy, Jio-bp and Shell, who have so far refused to curtail any volume despite a surge in sales. But now closure of pumps is a more viable solution than continuing to sell more fuel at rates that have been on freeze for a record 136 days, three sources with direct knowledge of the development told PTI. In 2008, Reliance Industries had shut all of its 1,432 petrol pumps in the country after sales dropped to almost nil as it could not match the subsidized price offered by the public sector competition.
FCCB investors alloted around 30 lakh shares from Indiabulls Housing Finance at a price of Rs 234.05 per share
Indiabulls Housing Finance on Thursday said it has allotted over 30 lakh shares at Rs 234.05 apiece to the holders of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) worth USD 10 million. Pursuant to the receipt of notice for conversion of FCCBs, for a principle value of USD 10 million, the company on Thursday issued and allotted 30,25,126 fully paid-up equity shares at a conversion price of Rs 243.05 per equity share, to the holder of such FCCBs, the company said in a regulatory filing. On September 28, 2021, upon conversion of FCCBs (under ISIN XS2377720839), it had allotted bonds for an aggregate USD 165,000,000 (4.50 per cent). “Consequent to the said allotment, the paid-up equity share capital of the company stands increased to Rs 93,71,43,008 divided into 46,85,71,504 fully paid equity shares,” it said. The outstanding principal value of FCCBs, as listed at SGX issued under ISIN XXS2301133943, is USD 149,500,000. FCCBs issued under ISIN XS2377720839 stand reduced from USD 155,000,000 to USD 145,000,000, it added.
In January, the RBI remains a net seller of US dollars, selling $771 million
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) remained a net seller of the US currency in January 2022, selling USD 771 million in the spot market. In the reporting month, the central bank bought USD 6.548 billion and sold USD 7.319 billion in the spot market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Bulletin for March 2022 released on Thursday showed. In December 2021, RBI had net sold USD 2.917 billion in the spot market. In January 2021, RBI had net purchased USD 2.854 billion from the spot market — buying USD 18.225 billion and selling USD 15.371 billion. In the forward dollar market, the outstanding net purchase at the end of January 2022 was USD 49.877 billion, compared to USD 49.106 billion in December 2021.
India’s foreign exchange reserves fell $9.65 billion to $622.27 billion
India’s foreign exchange reserves declined USD 9.646 billion to USD 622.275 billion in the week ended March 11, according to the latest data from the RBI. In the previous week ended March 4, the reserves rose USD 394 million to USD 631.92 billion. It touched a lifetime high of USD 642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021. During the reporting week, the decline in the reserves was due to a fall in the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed. FCA decreased by USD 11.108 billion to USD 554.359 billion in the week ended March 11. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. Gold reserves increased USD 1.522 billion to USD 43.842 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by USD 53 million to USD 18.928 billion, the RBI said.
Reliance Retail acquires 89% stake in Clovia
Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) said on March 20 that it has acquired an 89% equity stake in Purple Panda Fashions Private Limited, which owns and operates intimate wear brand Clovia. RRVL made an investment of Rs 950 crore in the company through a combination of secondary stake purchase and primary investment, according to an official statement. Clovia, launched in 2013 by Pankaj Vermani, Neha Kant & Suman Choudhary, is a bridge-to-premium D2C brand for women’s innerwear and loungewear. With this acquisition, Reliance added another brand to its portfolio in the innerwear segment, having already acquired Zivame and Amante brands.
SUNAYANA INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED sold 2,00,000 shares in Akash Infra-Projects Ltd at Rs 89.65 per share on the NSE.
APPU FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD bought 63,000 shares in AAA Technologies Limited at Rs 69.14 per share on the NSE.
INTEGRATED CORE STRATEGIES (ASIA) PTE. LTD. bought 153,95,487 shares in National Alum Co Ltd at Rs 116.88 per share on the NSE.
ENAM FINANCE PVT LTD. sold 29,11,000 shares in Future Enterprises Ltd at Rs 7.62 per share on the NSE.
MAHIPATSINH NATVARSINH CHUDASAMA sold 2,61,500 shares of Shree Ram Proteins Ltd. at Rs 116.68 per share on NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 3698,73,766 shares of Yes Bank Limited at Rs 12.99 per share on NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 4,62,192 shares in Vardhman Textiles Limited at Rs 2643.51 per share on the NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 5,34,917 shares in Birla Jute & Industries at Rs 1099.90 per share on the NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 15,48,032 shares of Angel One Limited at Rs 1607.83 per share on NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 8,01,385 shares of BSE Limited at Rs 2852.42 per share on NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 4,80,902 shares in Computer Age Mngt Ser Ltd at Rs 2375.46 per share on the NSE.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 14,91,869 equity shares in Century Plyboards (India) at Rs 677.49 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.
THE VANGUARD GROUP INC A/C VANGUARD EMERG. MKTS STOCK INDEXFD A SERIES OF V I E I F bought 16,61,293 shares in Chemplast Sanmar Limited at Rs 591.23 per share on the NSE.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 2,800.14 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 678.45 crore in the Indian equity market on March 17, as per provisional data available on the NSE.
Indiabulls Housing Finance is under the F&O ban for March 21. 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.
