Sensex slides 454 pts; Nifty settles below 22,050; oil & gas shares decline

Domestic equity benchmarks ended with substantial losses on Friday. The Nifty closed below the 22,050 mark. Metal and FMCG stocks advanced while oil & gas, auto and Pharma shares declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 453.85 points or 0.62% to 72,643.43. The Nifty 50 index lost 123.30 points or 0.56% to 22,023.35.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.51% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap rose 0.25%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,811 shares rose and 2,010 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's exports rose 11.9% to $41.4 billion in February, the highest in the current fiscal, while the trade deficit stood at $18.7 billion, according to the data released by the commerce ministry. The exports in February 2023 were USD 37.01 billion. Imports were valued at $60.1 billion, up 12.16% compared to $53.58 billion in February 2023.

India's merchandise trade deficit expanded to $18.71 billion in February, compared to $17.49 billion in January. The trade deficit stood at $16.57 billion in February 2023. The merchandise trade deficit during April-February 2023-24 is $225.20 Billion compared to $245.94 Billion during April-February 2022-23, registering a decline of (-) 8.43%.

Oil companies have trimmed petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2 per litre, effective from 6 a.m. on March 15, said Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Reduction in petrol and diesel prices will boost consumer spending and reduce operating costs for over 58 lakh heavy goods vehicles running on diesel, six crore cars and 27 crore two-wheelers.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Krystal Integrated Services received 17,84,780 bids for shares as against 29,99,448 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:20 IST on Friday (15 March 2024). The issue was subscribed 0.60 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Thursday (14 March 2024) and it will close on Monday (18 March 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 680 to 715 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 20 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index declined 1.98% to 11,058.80. The index advanced 2.33% in the past trading session.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 5.97%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 5.17%), Oil India (down 3.67%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 3.1%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 2.21%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (down 1.29%), Castrol India (down 1.08%), GAIL (India) (down 0.88%), Reliance Industries (down 0.83%) and Petronet LNG (down 0.58%) declined.

On the other hand, Aegis Logistics (up 2.74%), Adani Total Gas (up 2.65%) and Gujarat Gas (up 1.11%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro shed 0.19%. The company announced that it has been selected by Desjardins to transform their credit solutions for members and clients. This transformation program will provide Desjardins members and clients with a convenient digital lending experience that is accessible anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

One97 Communications (OCL) was locked in 5% upper circuit after the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has granted approval to the company to participate in UPI as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) under multi-bank model.

RailTel Corporation of India advanced 3.63% after the company has received the work order from Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) amounting to Rs. 113.46 crore (Including GST).

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals declined 1.47%. The company has bagged order(s)/ Letter of Empanelment from Government of Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of Solar Photovoltaic Water Pumping System (SWPS) with PV Modules under the esteemed PM-KUSUM Scheme at various location across the respective states.

JSW Energy rallied 4.56% after JSW Neo Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSW Energy received a letter of intent (LoI) for grid connected solar capacity of 300 MW from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL).

NHPC slipped 2.68%. The company said that it has received letter of intent by Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) for a 200 megawatt (MW) solar power project at the 1125 MW Gujarat State Electricity Corporation (GSECLs) renewable energy (RE) Park in Khavda, Gujarat.

Shakti Pumps (India) was locked in 5% upper circuit at after the company announced that it has received Letter of Award from Maharashtra Energy Department Agency (MEDA) for a project worth Rs 93 crore.

KPI Green Energy fell 2.37%. The power generation company announced that it has emerged as the successful winner in the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL) tender for development of 50 MW wind-solar hybrid power project.

Biocon dropped 5.81% after the company said that its chief financial officer (CFO), Indranil Sen has resigned with effect from 15 March 2024.

CFF Fluid Control surged 5% and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders advanced 1.54% after the company informed that it has received the biennial rate contract from Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders worth approximately Rs 46.46 crore.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced while most of the Asian stocks ended in red on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street after a hot US inflation report.

Chinas central bank left a key lending rate unchanged for a seventh month. The Peoples Bank of China kept the interest rate on its one-year medium-term lending facility loans at 2.50%.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday after higher-than-estimated US producer prices in February suggested that the US Federal Reserve could reduce the number of rate cuts this year.

US producer price index for final demand rose 0.6% last month after advancing by an unrevised 0.3% in January. The gauge rose 1.6% from a year earlier, the largest annual advance since September. US retail sales rose 0.6% last month. Data for January was revised lower to show sales tumbling 1.1% instead of the previously reported 0.8%, while sales in December were also downgraded.

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