Stock Market News: Top Things to Know Before Share Market Opens

The Indian stock market is expected to open in the green following positive US markets. Asian markets on the other hand were trading on a mixed note with Nikkei sliding for the second consecutive day. Trends on GIFT Nifty indicate a flat to positive start for Indian equities. The Indian stock market ended in the red on March 11, 2024, amid weak global cues. At close, Sensex was down 616 points at 73,502.64 while Nifty ended the session at 160 points at 22,332.65. Around 925 stocks advanced and 3,039 declined while 117 stocks remained unchanged. All sectoral indices ended in the red with auto, capital goods, FMCG, oil & gas, bank, Information Technology, realty, metal, and power down 0.5-1 percent each.

Global Markets

US Markets

A gauge of global stocks retreated for a second straight session on Monday, easing further from a record high ahead of US inflation data this week which could heavily influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.97 points, or 0.12%, to 38,769.66. The S&P 500 lost 5.74 points, or 0.11%, at 5,117.95. The Nasdaq Composite fell 65.84 points, or 0.41%, to 16,019.27, according to a Reuters report.

Asian Markets

Asia-Pacific stock markets were mixed as Japan’s corporate inflation figures for January came in higher than expected. Japan’s corporate inflation rate for February rose to 0.6%, beating the 0.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters and climbing from January’s figure of 0.2%, according to a CNBC.com report.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped for a second straight day, losing 1.12%, while the broad-based Topix was down 1.37%.

Also read: Pratham Projects IPO: Top Things to Know as Issue Opens for Subscription

GIFT Nifty

Trends on GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the Indian stock market.

Stocks in the news

• ITC: British American Tobacco Plc is preparing to kick off a sale of part of its stake in ITC as soon as this week, as per The Economic Times. The company has been speaking with Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. about a potential divestment of around $2 billion to $3 billion in ITC through block deals.
• Mahindra & Mahindra: M&M’s February production rose 26 percent to 73,380 units from last year(YoY). Sales too grew 26.2 percent to 71,384 units compared to 56,551 units last year. However, its exports dropped 31.6 percent to 1,539 units.
• Jupiter Wagons: The company has won a Rs 957 crore contract from the Ministry of Railways for manufacturing and supply of BOSM wagons.
• RVNL: The firm has emerged as the lowest bidder for the Maharashtra Metro Project worth Rs 339.23 crore and a separate project worth Rs 47 crore from Central Railways.
• HG Infra Engineering: The company has received a letter of award from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for an access-controlled highway of 4 lanes in Andhra Pradesh in hybrid lane mode. The project cost is Rs 862.11 crore.
• Wipro: The IT firm and Nutanix Inc. launched a Nutanix-focused business unit. It will accelerate digital transformation and hybrid multi-cloud innovation.
• AstraZeneca Pharma India: The pharma major and Mankind Pharma entered into a distribution agreement for AstraZeneca’s budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate (inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) combination) brand Symbicort in India.
• Aditya Birla Capital: The firm has received approval from the board of directors to merge subsidiary Aditya Birla Finance with itself. The amalgamation will create a large, unified operating NBFC.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 4,212.76 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 3,238.39 crore worth of stocks on March 11, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Bulk Deals

Medico Remedies Limited: Chanakya Opportunities Fund I bought 4,40,000 shares at Rs 84.6 per share.

Interglobe Aviation: Rakesh Gangwal sold 2,25,00,000 shares at Rs 3015.1 pe share. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) PTE. bought 21,00,000 shares at Rs 3015.1.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, and Hindustan Copper to the F&O ban list for March 12. It retained Manappuram Finance, Mahanagar Gas, SAIL, Tata Chemicals, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises on the said list.

Disclaimer: The content of this blog post is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be interpreted as investment or trading advice. The author does not assure the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Any decisions or actions taken based on the content of this blog post are undertaken at your own risk.