Market turns negative; IT stocks in green

The market reversed early gains and slipped into negative terrain in morning trade. Investors were worried about a likely a global recession triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The Nifty slipped below 7600 mark. IT shares bucked weak market trend.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 214.57 points or 0.83% at 25,766.67. The Nifty 50 index fell 43.8 points or 0.58%% at 7,566.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 2.75%. Both these indices underperformed the BSE Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 449 shares rose and 1241 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 20 stocks advanced while 30 stocks declined.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 15.22% to 82.94.

COVID-19 Crisis:

In an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19, complete lockdowns were announced in India's 30 states/Union Territories and a total of 548 districts.

Coronavirus has infected more than 381,739 people and killed more than 16,558 across the world. More than 102,429 people have recovered. India has reported 10 deaths and over 508 cases so far.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index jumped 3.41% to 11,561.35 as rupee depreciated to a record low level in the foreign exchange market. The IT index witnessed a bargain hunting as it bounced back from yesterday's 9.58% decline.

In the foreign exchange rate, the rupee edged lower against the dollar and crossed the 76-mark. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 76.085, compared with its close of 76.2 in previous session.

Infosys (up 7.35%), MindTree (up 5.23%), Tech Mahindra (up 3.56%), Wipro (up 3.14%), Hexaware Technologies (up 2.98%), HCL Technologies (up 2.39%) and TCS (up 1.71%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of IndusInd Bank were down 24.99% to Rs 252.45. The bank announced the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer with effect from 24 March 2020, for three years. The bank said Romesh Sobti, shall demit the office of Managing Director & CEO of IndusInd Bank, on 23 March 2020, in line with the tenure approved by RBI. The announced was made after market hours yesterday, 23 March 2020.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said that the company has entered into an agreement with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for divestment of its 'VWash' brand and other extension. Under this agreement, the brand and other trademarks, copyrights, know-how associated with Glenmark's VWash business will be transferred to HUL. Glenmark will receive an upfront payment and royalty on sales for 3 years.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were trading 2.58% higher at Rs 192.85 while HUL was up 6.31% to Rs 1990.80.

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