The key equity barometers ended with limited gains after a volatile session on Monday. After hitting the day's high at 17,091 in mid-afternoon trade, selling in the last hour of trade forced the Nifty to pare most gains and it ended below the 17,000 level. Pharma, healthcare and IT stocks were in demand while realty, media and auto stocks declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 126.76 points or 0.22% to 57,653.86. The Nifty 50 index advanced 40.65 points or 0.24% to 16,985.70.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.50%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 926 shares rose, and 2,708 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

Numerous global economic releases are scheduled for the final week of the current fiscal year 2022-2023. Absence of significant market triggers this week in the domestic market, investors and traders at home are likely to turn to the international markets for future direction.

Moreover, the week will witness the monthly derivatives series expiry for March on Wednesday, which shall induce some volatility in the domestic market.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.03% to 11,876.55. The index had declined 0.22% to end at 11,755.35 on Friday.

Biocon (up 3.85%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 3.02%), Lupin (up 2.73%), Alkem Laboratories (up 2.7%) and Aurobindo Pharma (up 2.27%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were Natco Pharma (up 1.87%), Abbott India (up 1.75%), Cipla (up 1.39%), Ipca Laboratories (up 1.23%) and Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.2%).

On the other hand, Pfizer (down 1.42%), Gland Pharma (down 1.09%) and Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.93%) turned lower.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries advanced 0.91%. The pharmaceutical major said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 60% shareholding in Vivaldis Health and Foods from its existing shareholders. The acquisition is being made for a cash consideration of Rs 143.30 crore. The company expects to complete the acquisition by the end of May 2023.

Morepen Laboratories zoomed 7.37%. The company announced successful completion of US drug regulator's inspection of API facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 1.50%. RIL said on Friday that its board has designated Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer, as chief financial officer (CFO) of the company with effect from 1 June 2023. The current CFO, Alok Agarwal, will assume a new role as senior advisor to the chairman and managing director of the company assisting him on a wide range of strategic issues with effect from 1 June 2023, after 30 years of service.

Tata Steel added 0.20%. The company announced on Friday that it acquired 4,65,116 equity shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services (TSUISL), on rights basis amounting to Rs 10 crore. TSUISL allotted the shares to Tata Steel at Rs 215 each.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals rose 0.91% while Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances slipped 3.39%. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals and Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances have announced a merger to accelerate and smoothen the realisation of synergies of the combined business. Both are listed companies and the merger will take place through shares swap.

Upon Merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly as on the record date will receive 22 equity shares of Crompton for every 5 equity shares held by them in Butterfly, as a consideration for the merger. Post-merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly will hold around 3% stake in the combined entity.

L&T Finance Holdings shed 0.95%. The NBFC said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved merger of subsidiaries L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and L&T Mutual Fund Trustee with L&T Finance Holdings.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) lost 0.43%. The company on Monday announced that its Power Transmission & Distribution business has secured 'large' orders in India and overseas. As per L&T classification, the value of the large project is Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Bharat Electronics (BEL) rose 0.33%. BEL announced that it has bagged orders worth Rs 4,300 crore from Indian Army and Indian Navy.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) declined 3.72%. IOB said that it has raised Rs 1,000 crore via issue of 1,000 unsecured, non-convertible, listed, redeemable, Basel-III compliant tier-II bonds through private placement basis.

Dalmia Bharat rose 2.27%. The company said its material wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), entered into binding agreement to sell its entire stake of 42.36% of Dalmia Bharat Refractories (DBRL) to Sarvapriya Healthcare Solutions for a consideration of Rs 800 crore. The said transaction will be completed on or before 25 April 2023.

ISGEC Heavy Engineering fell 3.48%. The company received order worth Rs 197.25 crore from Maharashtra State Power Generation (MAHAGENCO) for renovation of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) at Chandrapur thermal power, Maharashtra.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe advanced while Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday as investors continue to assess the impact of the banking troubles in the U.S and Europe on the global economy.

In the U.S. early on Monday, First Citizens Bank agreed to buy large parts of Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said. However, investors remained on high alert for signs of stresses in the banking system, while fears of contagion remain.

The deal includes the purchase of approximately $72 billion of SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, but around $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain “in receivership for disposition by the FDIC.”

Last Friday, Deutsche Bank shares saw a sell-off after the German lender's credit default swaps jumped. The stock was up 3.2% in mid-morning trade on Monday.

Over the weekend, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech that risks to financial stability have increased, though actions by advanced economies have calmed market stress.

US stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a tumultuous week as Federal Reserve officials calmed investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the banking sector.

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