For the fourth day in a row, Indian equity indexes fell sharply, taking the Sensex and Nifty below crucial levels of 52,900 and 15,900, respectively. Markets fell as a result of concerns over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as rising crude oil prices.

The Nifty50 has formed a small body candle on the daily chart with a long lower shadow, suggesting the formation of a Doji type pattern, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

Hopeful of a bounce in the 50-scrip benchmark in the near term, he said: “A decisive upside from here or from the lows could confirm a short-term bottom reversal.”

Indian Indices

Sensex fell 1491.06 points or 2.74% to 52,842.75 and Nifty was down by 382.20 points or 2.35% to 15,863.15 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 53,203.87 and 52,367.10, respectively. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 15,944.60 and 15,711.45. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap index falling 2.25%, while the Small cap index was down by 2.30%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.68%, Telecom up by 1.43%, Oil & Gas up by 0.81%, TECK up by 0.25%, while Realty down by 5.31%, Bankex down by 4.59%, Finance down by 4.35%, Auto down by 4.02% and Industrials down by 3.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

Support and Resistance levels

The key support level for the Nifty is placed at 15,735, followed by 15,607. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 15,968 and 16,073, according to pivot charts.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with a 37-points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 15,720.80 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:45 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished sharply lower yesterday with shares in Hong Kong leading the region. The Hang Seng was down 3.93% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 2.94% and China’s Shanghai Composite was lower by 2.17%.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 127.78 points, or 3%, to 4,201.09.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 797.42 points, or 2.4%, to 32,817.38.

The Nasdaq fell 482.48 points, or 3.6%, to 12,830.96.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 49.57 points, or 2.5%, to 1,951.33.

European Markets

European markets finished broadly lower yesterday with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was down 5.74% while Germany’s DAX was off 1.47% and London’s FTSE 100 was lower by 0.07%.

SEBI asks Dish TV to declare AGM voting results within 24 hours

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on March 7 ordered Dish TV India Ltd to declare its annual general meeting (AGM) voting results, held on December 30, in the next 24 hours. The regulator also directed depositories to freeze Demat accounts of the directors and compliance officer of the company immediately until AGM voting results are disclosed to stock exchanges or till further orders, whichever is earlier. The regulator also issued a show-cause notice to its promoter and directors of the company including, Jawahar Lal Goel, chairperson and managing director, Ashok Mathai Kurien, non-executive director, Bhagwan Das Narang, non-executive independent director, Shankar Aggarwal, non-executive independent director, Anil Kumar Dua, executive director and chief executive officer, Rashmi Aggarwal, a non-executive Independent women director  Ranjit Singh, company secretary and compliance officer. “Considering the prima-facie observations and allegations mentioned in the present order, Entities no. 1 to 8, as listed in the beginning of this order, are hereby called upon to show cause as to why further appropriate directions under the provisions of Sections 11(1), 11(4) and 11B(1) of SEBI Act should not be issued against them and also why appropriate penalty shall not be imposed”, the SEBI order said. The order came after SEBI received complaints from Yes Bank and other shareholders, alleging that Dish TV has wrongfully withheld the results of voting on various proposals put forth in the AGM.

Indian Rupee falls to record low against US dollar on surging oil prices

The Indian rupee slipped to its lowest level against the US dollar due to rising oil prices and the continued outflow of foreign portfolio money. The rupee opened at 76.94 against the US dollar compared to the previous close of 76.17 on Friday. The rupee touched its previous low at 76.91 in April 2020. According to a note by Deutsche Bank, “The rupee has already depreciated close to 76/$ levels and could easily push towards the 77/$, which will then test the resolve of the RBI, to restrict further depreciation by way of selling dollar.” Moreover, slower portfolio flows could also strain the balance of payments. In January to March 2022 period, foreign investors have sold a net worth of Rs 84,131 crore across India’s equity and debt markets, according to data from National Securities Depository Ltd. The main four factors that cause the rupee to depreciate are oil prices, dollar shortage, relentless outflows from equity with a risk of spillover to debt now and the unwinding of the carry trade, said Anindya Banerjee, vice president for currency derivatives and interest rate derivatives at Kotak Securities. As a result of the unwinding of the carry trade, in particular, the dollar-rupee is likely to react far more severely, which is why Banerjee said that the RBI has been intervening aggressively.

Ukraine conflict: Crude oil hits record high since 2008, Palladium on the rise

Oil prices rose more than 6% on Monday, reaching their highest level since 2008, as the United States and its European allies considered a Russian oil import ban, while delays in the probable return of Iranian crude to global markets fuelled supply concerns. While palladium reached a new high on Monday, gold reached a critical threshold of $2,000 per ounce, as investors sought safe-haven assets due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Brent crude futures jumped $8.46, or 7.2%, to $126.57 per barrel, while WTI crude in the United States rose $7.65, or 6.6%, to $123.33. Both benchmarks rose more than $10 a barrel in the opening few minutes of trading on Monday, reaching their highest levels since July 2008, with Brent at $139.13 and WTI at $130.50. Palladium rose 5.7% to $3,172.19 per ounce, having reached an all-time high of $3,172.22 earlier in the session. Russia accounts for 40% of the world’s output of metal, which is used by automakers in catalytic converters to reduce emissions. Spot gold was up 1.5% at $1,998.37 per ounce, having reached a one-and-a-half-year high of $2,000.69 earlier. Gold futures in the United States climbed 1.7% to $2,000.20. Spot silver rose 1.7% to $26.09 per ounce, while platinum rose 2.3% to $1,147.19 per ounce.

NSE co-location scam: Court allows CBI 7-day custody of NSE ex-MD Ramkrishna

A Delhi court on Monday granted the CBI 7-day custodial interrogation of former managing director and chief executive officer of National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in the NSE co-location scam case. Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal passed the order after hearing arguments from CBI and the counsel appearing for the accused. The probe agency had sought her 14-day custodial interrogation. The CBI arrested the accused on Sunday after her anticipatory bail application was dismissed by the court on Saturday. In the co-location facility offered by the NSE, brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises giving them faster access to the markets. It is alleged that some brokers in connivance with insiders abused the algorithm and the co-location facility to make windfall profits.

PLI scheme: The government reopens the application window for AC and LED lights

The government on Monday said it has reopened the application window for its Rs 6,238-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for air-conditioners (ACs) and LED lights with an aim to accommodate more players as several firms have expressed interest for the initiative. Already 42 firms, including Daikin, Panasonic, Syska and Havells, with committed investment of Rs 4,614 crore, have been provisionally selected as beneficiaries under the PLI scheme for the white goods sector (AC and LED lights). The commerce and industry ministry, in a statement, said the application window for the scheme will now again open from March 10 to April 25 this year. No application will be accepted after the closure of this window. “Additional applications are invited under…the scheme guidelines for investments under the scheme on the same terms and conditions as stipulated in the scheme guidelines…The incentive shall be available only for the remaining tenure of the scheme,” it said. The total outlay is Rs 6,238 crore and 42 applicants have committed investments of Rs 4,614 crore, so there is still over Rs 1,600 crore in the reserves.

Bulk Deal data

PLUTUS WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLP sold 200,000 shares in AMIORG at Rs 885.00 per share on the BSE.

CNM FINVEST PRIVATE LIMITED bought 72,000 shares in REMLIFE at Rs 138.25 per share on the BSE.

KUNTAL JITENDRA TRIVEDI sold 186,700 shares in TINEAGRO at Rs 56.05 per share on the BSE.

JAYANTILAL HANSRAJ LODHA bought 89,000 shares of WORL at Rs 854.10 per share on BSE.

KARAKORAM LIMITED sold 7,294,115 shares of VIJAYA at Rs 425.75 per share on BSE.

NIMESH RAMANBHAI NAIK bought 62,820 shares in MEERA at Rs 89.13 per share on the BSE.

AVANCE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED sold 12,145,896 equity shares in EMPOWER at Rs 15.00 per share on the BSE, the bulk deals data showed.

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 7,482.08 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 5,331.03 crore in the Indian equity market on March 7, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

No stock or security has been put under the F&O ban for March 8. 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.