Key indices hit fresh intraday low; Nifty below 16,900 level

The domestic equity indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 16,900 mark. Realty shares snapped their 2-day rising streak.

At 12:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 812.81 points or 1.40% to 57,177.09. The Nifty 50 index lost 240.60 points or 1.41% to 16,859.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.65% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.21%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 939 shares rose and 2,515 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.

Investors reacted negatively to news of a Credit Suisse bailout by its bigger rival UBS. On Sunday, Switzerland`s biggest bank, UBS, agreed to buy Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal aimed at stemming financial market panic unleashed by the failure of two American banks earlier this month, media reports stated.

UBS is paying 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) for Credit Suisse in an all-share deal, about 60% less than the amount the bank was worth when markets closed on Friday, the reports added. Credit Suisse investors will reportedly get one UBS share for every 22.48 Credit Suisse shares held.

Meanwhile, caution prevailed ahead of the US Federal Reserve`s meeting outcome due later this week. Investor will keep on eye on the actions of the American Central Bank to see how it will proceed in its fight against inflation in light of the shakeup in the banking sector.

Derivatives:

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 14.79% to 16.95. The Nifty 29 March 2023 futures were trading at 16,885, at a premium of 25.55 points as compared with the spot at 16,859.45.

The Nifty option chain for the 29 March 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 40.2 lakh contracts at the 17,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 63.4 lakh contracts were seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty fell 1.70% to 392.20. The index had advanced 4.18% in the past two sessions.

Macrotech Developers (down 5.08%), Godrej Properties (down 3.17%), DLF (down 2.88%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 2.79%) and Sobha (down 1.7%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Oberoi Realty (down 1.52%), Sunteck Realty (down 0.72%), Brigade Enterprises (down 0.03%).

On the other hand, Phoenix Mills (up 2.11%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 1.01%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) rose 1.66%. The company said that it allotted 93,561 non-convertible debentures (NCD`s) aggregating to Rs 935.61 crore on a private placement basis.

Separately, BPCL announced the appointed Krishnakumar Gopalan as the chairman & managing director (C&MD) of the company with effect from 17 March 2023. The appointment is until Gopalan`s superannuation or �until further orders�, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said. Gopalan replaces Arun Kumar Singh, who retired as chairman in October 2022.

Havells India fell 2.05%. The company announced that it has commenced commercial production of air-conditioners (ACs) at its Sri-City plant in Andhra Pradesh with effect from 17 March 2023.

Fiem Industries declined 2.06%. The company informed that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gogoro India, a group company of Gogoro Taiwan, to expand its product portfolio in 2-wheeler electric vehicles (EV) segment.

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