Market snaps 3-day losing streak; Nifty ends above 17,200

Benchmark indices snapped a three-day losing streak and ended with decent gains on Monday. The Nifty opened higher, but quickly slipped into the negative terrain. After hitting the day's low of 17,003.90 in early afternoon trade, the index bounced back and hit the day's high of 17,235.10 in late trade. Metals, banks and auto shares were in demand. On the flip side, consumer durables, healthcare, pharma and IT shares were under pressure.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 231.29 points or 0.40% at 57,593.49. The Nifty 50 index gained 69 points or 0.40% at 17,222. Both the indices fell about 1% in the past three sessions.

Axis Bank (up 2.13%), ICICI Bank (up 1.59%), ITC (up 1.54%) and SBI (up 1.44) boosted the indices.

The broader market underperformed the main indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.40% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.53%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, shares 1,173 rose and 2,334 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 3.49% to 22.61.

Number to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.839% compared with 6.811% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 76.1625, compared with its close of 76.24 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement fell 0.72% to Rs 51,504.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.28% to 99.095.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2022 settlement fell $4.62 or 3.83% $116.03 a barrel.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced on Monday as investors continued to monitor the developments in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated that his country is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks ended mixed as coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai looked set to hit global activity, while throwing another wrench into supply chains that could add to inflationary pressures.

Investors continued to weigh rising interest rates in the US. New York Fed President John Williams on Friday said he would support a half-point move if justified but indicated it was premature to make a call on the size of a future rate increase.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Airtel jumped 3.40%. The telecom major said it will acquire 4.7% equity in Indus Towers from an affiliate of Vodafone Group at Rs 187.88 per share with the transaction totalling Rs 2,388.06 crore.

INOX Leisure soared 11.33% while PVR advanced 3.06%. INOX Leisure, PVR announced a merger in which shareholders will receive 3 shares of PVR in exchange of 10 shares in INOX. The board of PVR and INOX Leisure, at their respective meetings held on Sunday (27 March 2022), approved an all stock amalgamation of INOX with PVR. The amalgamation is subject to approval of the shareholders of PVR and INOX respectively, stock exchanges, SEBI and such other regulatory approvals as may be required.

Upon obtaining all approvals, INOX will merge with PVR. INOX shareholders will receive 3 shares in PVR for 10 shares of INOX. Post the merger, PVR promoters will have 10.62% stake while INOX promoters will have 16.66% stake in the combined entity. The board of the merged company would be re-constituted with total board strength of 10 members and both the promoter families having equal representation on the board with 2 board seats each.

GAIL (India) rose 3.01% after the company said its board will consider a share buyback on 31 March 2022.

Larsen & Toubro lost 0.55%. The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for acquisition of two multi-purpose vessels (MPVs) for Indian Navy at an overall cost of Rs 887 crore under Buy-Indian category. The MPVs will be the first of its kind platform, constructed to provide a cost-effective solution to meet a variety of requirements of Indian Navy.

These vessels, to be built by L&T shipyard at Kattupally (Chennai), will perform multi-role support functions such as maritime surveillance& patrol, launching/ recovery of torpedoes and operation of various types of aerial, surface and underwater targets for Gunnery/ ASW firing exercises. These vessels would also be capable of towing ships and rendering humanitarian assistance & disaster relief (HADR) support with limited hospital ship capability.

Godrej Properties rose 0.40%. The company announced that it has entered into an agreement to develop a 33 acres land parcel in the residential micro-market of Bannerghatta Road in South Bengaluru. The project will have a developable potential of approximately 3.4 million square feet of saleable area with an estimated revenue of approximately Rs 2,000 crore. The agreement is for an outright purchase with 5% area share to the landowners.

Aster DM Healthcare surged 10.81%. The company announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu, India to set up healthcare facilities in the state. The MoU proposed an investment of Rs 500 crore in hospitals, pharmacies and laboratories in the State. This will help provide quality healthcare at affordable cost to the people of Tamil Nadu and generate employment for more than 3,500 people.

IndiaMART InterMESH shed 1.37%. The firm has announced an investment of approximately Rs. 45.98 crore in Finlite Technologies for acquiring 51.09% stake in the company. As part of the transaction, IndiaMART will be investing Rs 35 crore into the company via primary infusion and purchase shares from the promoters for the remaining amount. Finlite Technologies under the brand name 'Livekeeping', offers value added services to businesses over their existing on-premise accounting softwares, primarily "Tally".

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