Indian equity indexes closed lower by approximately half a per cent on Friday, extending their losses to the third day, led down by Consumer Durables, Capital Goods, and FMCG sectors. Markets began marginally higher but failed to consolidate gains and quickly fell below natural lines, as the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reduced India’s economic growth forecast for 2022 by more than 2% to 4.6% from 6.7% before.
The Nifty50 has formed a small negative candle on the daily chart with a lower shadow, having moved within a narrow range of 17,400-17,000 in the past five sessions, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.
A decisive move outside of the range can be expected going forward, according to Shetti.
Sensex fell 233.48 points or 0.41% to 57,362.20 and Nifty was down by 69.75 points or 0.40% to 17,153.00 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 57,845.37 and 57,100.24, respectively. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 17,294.90 and 17,076.55. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.
Broader Indices
The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap index falling 0.36%, while the Small cap index was down by 0.33%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.21%, Utilities up by 0.31%, Power up by 0.18%, Energy up by 0.14% and Oil & Gas up by 0.13%, while Consumer Durables down by 2.28%, Capital Goods down by 0.95%, FMCG down by 0.72%, IT down by 0.68%, Auto down by 0.63% were the losing indices on BSE.
Support and Resistance levels
The key support level for the Nifty is placed at 17,055, followed by 16,957. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,273 and 17,393, according to pivot charts.
SGX Nifty
The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 31-points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,238.80 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:35 hours IST.
Asian Markets
Asian markets finished mixed on Friday. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.14%, while the Hang Seng led the Shanghai Composite lower. They fell 2.47% and 1.46% respectively.
The S&P 500 rose 22.90 points, or 0.5%, to 4,543.06.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.30 points, or 0.4%, to 34,861.24.
The Nasdaq fell 22.54 points, or 0.2%, to 14,169.30.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.54 points, or 0.1%, to 2,077.98.
European Markets
European markets finished broadly higher on Friday with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was up 2.88% while Germany’s DAX was up 0.22% and London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.21%.
Anil Ambani steps down from boards of R-Infra, Reliance Power after SEBI notice
Anil Ambani resigned as director from the boards of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and Reliance Power Ltd on Friday evening, a month after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) ordered him and other directors of Reliance Home Finance Ltd to resign from any listed business with immediate effect. The two firms said in exchange filings that “the board looks forward to an early closure of the matter and inviting Mr Ambani back to provide his vision and leadership to the company in the interest of all stakeholders.” “The board noted that during the past year, the company has created immense value for its around 800,000 shareholders with the stock price increasing from a low of Rs. 32 to a high of Rs. 150,” according to the exchange filing, Reliance Infrastructure. Reliance Power attributed Ambani’s leadership to the stock’s rise from a low of Rs. 4 to a high of Rs. 19 in a year. The regulator barred Ambani, Amit Bapna, Ravindra Sudhalkar, and Pinkesh R. Shah from engaging with any listed business, acting as their directors, or associating with any market intermediary in an interim ruling issued on February 11 in the case of Reliance Home Finance Ltd.
Finance Bill 2022 passed in Lok sabha, marking completion of budgetary session
Marking the completion of the Budgetary exercise for the 2022-23 fiscal year, the Lok Sabha on March 25 passed the Finance Bill, which gives effect to the new taxation policy. The lower house approved the Finance Bill after accepting 39 official amendments proposed by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and rejecting the amendments proposed by the opposition by voice votes. India was probably the only country that has not put any new taxes to fund the recovery of the economy hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Sitharaman while replying to a discussion on the Finance Bill. According to an OECD report, as many as 32 countries have raised taxes after the pandemic, she added. “We as a government strongly believe in lowering taxes, bringing the burden on common man lower, and we are continuously and successfully doing it,” the Finance Minister said. While referring to the Budget’s focus on increasing capital expenditure, she said “Instead, we put more money where multiplier effect would be maximum”. In Budget 2022-23, the capital expenditure (Capex) was raised by 35.4% to Rs 7.5 lakh crore to continue the public investment-led recovery of the economy from the pandemic.
Vedanta board approves investment in Cairn Oil & Gas, Zinc International & ESL Steel Limited
Vedanta Limited has said in a regulatory filing that the board of directors of the company at their meeting held on March 25 approved investments in three projects. The projects approved by the Vedanta board are related to Cairn Oil & Gas, Zinc International – Gamsberg Phase-2 Project; and ESL Steel Limited’s 3 MTPA growth project.
Vedanta said in the regulatory filing that the strategic priority for the Cairn Oil & Gas business will be to increase near term volume through infill wells and add resources through exploration. It added: “In order to deliver this, the Board of Directors have approved Capex investment (net) of $687 million. Of these, $360 million have been earmarked for infill wells in the prolific fields viz Mangala, Bhagyam, Aishwariya, Aishwariya Barmer Hill, Ravva, etc. The exploration work programme with Capex investment of $327 million shall be spread across the OALP blocks and PSC blocks including pilot wells for Shale.”
Zinc International – Gamsberg Phase-2 Project: “Gamsberg Phase II Expansion Project at cost of $466 million will double up Gamsberg capacity from 4Mtpa Ore to 8Mtpa to produce additional 200ktpa MiC Zinc. This project will bring significant socio-economic benefit and will make Vedanta Zinc International as largest zinc producer of South Africa,” the company said.
ESL Steel Limited – 3 MTPA growth Project According to Vedanta, “the steel expansion project with an investment of USD 348 Mn comes with additional Blast Furnace of 1050 m3 supported by 0.5 MTPA Coke Ovens, 1.8 MTPA Pellet Plant, 800 TPD Oxygen Plant and other auxiliaries and infrastructure up-gradation including Railway siding to Plant’s head. This project also comes with a new 0.18 MTPA Ductile Iron Pipe Plant which will help us to maximize VAP. This project along with debottlenecking of BF#3, Sinter Plants & new LRF will take us to the capacity of 3 MTPA with the lowest quartile cost and premium product portfolio.”
FPI outflow exceeds Rs 1 lakh crore mark in 2022
Overseas investors have pulled out a net Rs 1,14,855.97 crore from the Indian markets in the current year so far, amid heightened geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns. Foreign portfolio investors have sold domestic equities worth Rs 48,261.65 crore so far this month, taking the year-to-date tally this year to a massive Rs 1,14,855.97 crore, according to depositories data. The exodus of foreign investors was largely owing to inflationary pressures and deepening global macroeconomic conditions following the Russia-Ukraine war, experts said. This is for the sixth straight month that foreign institutional investors have offloaded their holdings on a net basis in the Indian equity market. As per depositories data, foreign investors pulled out Rs 28,526.30 crore from Indian equities in January, Rs 38,068.02 crore in February and Rs 48,261.65 crore in March so far. “The Indian equity markets continue to be in a grind, influenced by and reacting to incremental news flow on the global front, especially related to the geopolitical situation and Fed rhetoric. The two key challenges and monitorable for the markets in the near term are the persistent inflationary pressures and the rising bond yields,” said Milind Muchhala, Executive Director, Julius Baer.
PVR and INOX have announced a merger, with Ajay Bijli serving as the merged entity’s MD
PVR and INOX on March 27 announced a merger after the Board of Directors of PVR Limited and INOX Leisure Limited at their respective meetings held yesterday, approved an all-stock amalgamation of INOX with PVR. It was also decided that Ajay Bijli will be the Managing Director of the combined entity and Sanjeev Kumar would be appointed as the Executive Director. Chairman of INOX Group Pavan Kumar Jain will be appointed as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Siddharth Jain will be appointed as Non-Executive Non-Independent Director in the combined entity, said the two firms in an exchange filing. The amalgamation is subject to the approval of the shareholders of PVR and INOX respectively, stock exchanges, SEBI, and such other regulatory approvals as may be required. EY is the financial advisor on the transaction. Upon obtaining all approvals, when the merger becomes effective, INOX will merge with PVR. Shareholders of INOX will receive shares of PVR in exchange for shares in INOX at the approved share exchange (swap) ratio. Post the merger, PVR promoters will have a 10.62% stake while INOX promoters will have a 16.66% stake in the combined entity. PVR currently operates 871 screens across 181 properties in 73 cities and INOX operates 675 screens across 160 properties in 72 cities the combined entity will become the largest film exhibition company in India with 1,546 screens across 341 properties across 109 cities.
MAHASHALI TRADEWING LLP bought 1,31,563 shares in Akash Infra-Projects Ltd at Rs 69.50 per share on the NSE.
SURESHBHAI KANJIBHAI PATEL bought 1,40,000 shares in Art Nirman Limited at Rs 74.97 per share on the NSE.
VIJAYGOPAL PARASRAM ATAL sold 2,80,000 shares in Atal Realtech Limited at Rs 103.40 per share on the NSE.
POONAWALLA CONSTRUCTIONS LLP sold 2,30,820 shares in BSE Limited at Rs 891.88 per share on the NSE.
CROMPTON GREAVES CONSUMER ELECTRICALS LIMITED bought 98,33,754 shares of Btrfly Gandhi Appl Ltd at Rs 1403.00 per share on NSE.
ASHISH SHARADKUMAR NEMANI sold 5,00,000 shares of Vaishali Pharma Limited at Rs 65.25 per share on NSE.
KARAKORAM LIMITED sold 25,32,270 shares in Vijaya Diagnostic Cen Ltd at Rs 445.00 per share on the NSE.
LAKSHMI GUTTIKONDA VARA sold 6,35,000 shares in Megasoft Limited at Rs 50.50 per share on the NSE.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,507.37 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,373.02 crore in the Indian equity market on March 25, as per provisional data available on the NSE.
Indiabulls Housing Finance, Vodafone Idea, L&T Finance Holdings, SAIL, and Sun TV Network are under the F&O ban for March 28. 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.
