Barometers trade with minor cuts; auto shares decline

The domestic equity benchmarks further pared losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty marched towards the 16,550 mark. Auto shares declined. The continued escalation of the Russia Ukraine conflict and its consequent global economic fallout weighed on investor sentiment.

At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 246.33 points or 0.44% to 55,612.19. The Nifty 50 index lost 65.10 points or 0.39% to 16,593.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.08%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1595 shares rose and 1628 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Government has permitted up to 20% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under automatic route in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with an aim to facilitate disinvestment of the country's largest insurer.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had mooted the proposal to allow FDI in LIC, after taking views from the Ministry of Finance. The much-awaited initial public offering, IPO of LIC is expected to hit the market in March and LIC's employees and policyholders would get a discount over the floor price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 1.09% to 10,776.45. The index had advanced 2.69% to close at 10,895.30 on Friday.

Eicher Motors (down 2.59%), TVS Motor Company (down 2.21%), Maruti Suzuki (down 1.58%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.43%), Tata Motors (down 1.25%), Bharat Forge (down 1.25%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.90%) declined while Ashok Leyland (up 0.34%) and Bajaj Auto (up 0.22%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Aurionpro Solutions fell 2.65% to Rs 282.50. Singapore-based SC Soft, an Aurionpro subsidiary, announced an order win to design, develop & supply on-board validators supporting the up-gradation to EMV open-loop ticketing for the 200 pilot buses in Costa Rica. The order is valued at $225,000 which covers the supply of equipment and implementation by the end of Q2-2022, followed by the maintenance & support post-warranty.

Zen Technologies shed 0.25% to Rs 195.85. The company said that it secured an export order for the supply of training equipment worth approximately Rs 13.5 crore.

SJVN rose 1.60% to Rs 28.60. The company announced that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India has granted in-principle approval for development of 400MW solar park at Kinnaur district in Himachal Pradesh.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading higher on Monday. Investors continued to monitor the Russia-Ukraine crisis and related sanctions. Taiwan markets are closed for a holiday on Monday.

Russia continued its advance into Ukraine over the weekend, with reports of fighting on the streets and forces encircling Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin on Sunday put his country's deterrence forces, which reportedly include nuclear capabilities, on high alert in response to international backlash to Russia's invasion.

The U.S. and its allies announced new sanctions and measures to hit Russia, such as removing selected Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT. Many countries have also said they will close their airspace to Russian aircraft.

On the diplomatic front, representatives from the Ukraine and Russian governments have agreed to meet at the Ukraine-Belarus border with no preconditions, as per reports. Belarus, which shares a border with both Ukraine and Russia, has close ties with Moscow.

US stocks climbed Friday as investors continued to assess the financial risks stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

On the data front, the Commerce Department said on Friday consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, surged 2.1% last month after falling 0.8% in December.

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