Market extends losses; metals shares decline

The domestic equity benchmarks extended losses in the morning trade. Negative global cues dented investors sentiment. The Nifty slipped below the 16,900 level. All the sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the red with metal, media and PSU banks declining the most.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 687.03 points or 1.18% to 57,302.87. The Nifty 50 index lost 203.35 points or 1.19% to 16,896.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.33% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.07%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 969 shares rose and 2,215 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,766.53 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,817.14 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 March, provisional data showed.

Investors are cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's meeting outcome later this week, to see how the central bank will proceed in its fight against inflation in light of the shakeup in the banking sector.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index lost 2.31% to 5,473.10. The index advanced 2.39% in the past trading session.

National Aluminium Company (down 4.45%), Adani Enterprises (down 3.6%), Steel Authority of India (down 2.99%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.66%), Jindal Stainless (down 2.52%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.4%), Vedanta (down 1.92%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.77%), Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (down 1.66%) and Tata Steel (down 1.59%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Can Fin Homes fell 2.29%. Suresh Srinivasan Iyer is appointed as the managing director and CEO with effect from 18 March 2023, initially for a fixed term of three years and further extendable to two years. Further, the board has renewed the authorisations for issuance of non-convertible redeemable debentures upto an amount of Rs 1,764 crore, on private placement basis, in one or more tranches, for a period upto the date of the annual general meeting (AGM) of the year 2022-23.

Tata Steel declined 1.59%. The company announced that it has acquired 1,55,34,738 equity shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Steel Advanced Materials (TSAML) for an amount aggregating to approximately Rs 19.90 crore.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals shed 0.33%. The pharma company said that it has received final approval by the United States Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) for Prochlorperazine Maleate tablets, the generic version of Compazine tablets of GlaxoSmithKline. Prochlorperazine is used in the treatment of nausea, vomiting, and migraine caused by various conditions.

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