The headline equity indices ended with significant gains on Thursday. The Nifty managed to settle around the 22,150 mark after hitting the day?s low of 21,917.50 in early trade. Oil & gas, metal and IT stocks advanced while private bank, bank and financial services shares declined. Trading was volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 335.39 points or 0.46% to 73,097.28. The Nifty 50 index added 148.95 points or 0.68% to 22,146.65.
The broader market outperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.28% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap surged 3.11%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,731 shares rose and 1,144 shares fell. A total of 83 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 5.61% to 13.62.
Economy:
Global ratings agency Fitch Ratings raised India's FY25 GDP growth forecast to 7% from 6.5% earlier as it expects the economy to continue its strong expansion.
The rating agency said that it expects 50 bps rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India from July to December and foresees India's CPI inflation gradually declining to 4% by the end of 2024.
Prospects for emerging markets, excluding China, have also brightened, particularly in India, where we now expect growth to reach 7.8% in the fiscal year ending March 2024 (FY24) and 7% in FY25,? the report said.
?With GDP growth having exceeded 8% for three consecutive quarters, we expect an easing in growth momentum in the final quarter of the current fiscal year, implying an estimate of 7.8% for growth in FY24,? it added.
Meanwhile, Data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry showed that India's wholesale price inflation eased further to a four-month low of 0.20% in February on an annual basis, as against 0.27% in January.
The sequential WPI rate for February grew 0.07% against a contraction of (-) 0.33% in the month before.
Positive rate of inflation in February, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, electricity, machinery & equipment and motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers etc.
New Listing:
Shares of Gopal Snacks ended at Rs 365.20 on the BSE, representing a discount of 8.93% as compared with the issue price of Rs 401.
The scrip was listed at Rs 350, exhibiting a discount of 12.72% to the issue price.
On the BSE, over 5.47 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Krystal Integrated Services received 8,24,340 bids for shares as against 29,99,448 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Thursday (14 March 2024). The issue was subscribed 0.27 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.
The initial public offer (IPO) of Popular Vehicles and Services received 1,70,04,050 bids for shares as against 1,44,15,110 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Thursday (14 March 2024). The issue was subscribed 1.18 times.
The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (12 March 2024) and it will close on Thursday (14 March 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 280 to 295 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 50 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained 2.33% to 11,281.85. The index tumbled 8.38% in the past five trading sessions.
Adani Total Gas (up 11.35%), Linde India (up 5.25%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 4.78%), GAIL (India) (up 4.45%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 3.56%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 3.47%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.93%), Petronet LNG (up 1.5%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.04%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.19%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.77% after the company ?s Hydrocarbon Business, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon has secured major order for gas pipeline project from a prestigious client in the Middle East.
Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) soared 9.32% after the company said that its joint venture, RVNL-SALASAR has received a letter of award (LoA) from Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company (MPPTC) worth Rs 173.98 crore.
Tata Motors shed 0.56%. The company announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu to setting up a vehicle manufacturing facility in the state.
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) advanced 4.29% after the company announced that it has signed two contracts with Minsitry of Defence for Rs 8,073.17 crore on 13 March 2024.
Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) rallied 7.04% after the company?s board has appointed Anupma K. Iyer as a chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel (KMP) of the company with effect from 11 March 2024.
Indian Hume Pipe Company surged 17.20% after the company?s joint venture received a work order worth Rs 1,137.77 crore from the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department, Government of Telangana.
IIFL Finance fell 2.36%. The company approved raising up to Rs 2,000 crore via share and NCD issuance.
Kalpataru Projects International gained 3.48% after the company, along with its joint ventures (JVs) and international subsidiaries, announced the receipt of new orders worth Rs 2,445 crore.
Antony Waste Handling Cell jumped 5.15% after the company?s subsidiary Antony Lara Enviro Solutions has been awarded contract for bio-mining approximately 8.6 lakh tonnes of legacy waste by CIDCO.
PC Jeweller hit an upper limit of 5% after State Bank of India approved the jeweller's one-time debt settlement plan.
Global Markets:
Most of the European stocks edged higher on Thursday as investors awaited another key U.S. inflation reading for February.
Asian stocks ended mixed as traders were focused on the outcome of spring wage negotiations in Japan.
Japan's wage negotiations have concluded, with early reports indicating large companies offered significant pay raises. This could lead the Bank of Japan to tighten its monetary policy when they meet next week.
In the US market, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed slightly lower on Wednesday as investors took profits from chipmaker stocks. This comes as they await producer price data and further signs on the inflation trend before the Federal Reserve meeting next week.
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