Barometers turn rangebound; bank stocks silde

The key equity indices traded in a narrow range with limited losses in the mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered around the 22,050 mark. Bank shares saw profit booking after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 212.12 points or 0.29% to 72,619.82. The Nifty 50 index lost 44.10 points or 0.20% to 22,052.65.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.07%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,541 shares rose and 2,169 shares fell. A total of 191 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion for the week ended March 15, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen by $10.47 billion to $636.095 billion.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.034 billion to $568.386 billion, the data showed.

Gold reserves increased by $425 million to $51.14 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $65 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was down by $129 million to $4.689 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of SRM Contractors received 32,11,600 bids for shares as against 43,40,100 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:30 IST on Tuesday (26 March 2024). The issue was subscribed 0.74 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (26 March 2024) and it will close on Thursday (28 March 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 200 to 210 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 70 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index dropped 0.46% to 46,650.35. The index rose 1.19% in the past two past trading sessions.

State Bank of India (down 0.87%), HDFC Bank (down 0.73%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.55%), ICICI Bank (down 0.52%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.41%) and Axis Bank (down 0.12%) declined.

On the other hand, Punjab National Bank (up 0.65%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.44%) and Bandhan Bank (up 0.41%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

UNO Minda added 2.38% after the company announced the signing of a technical license agreement (TLA) with Starcharge Energy for manufacturing and selling electric vehicle supply equipments (EVSE) in India.

JSW Energy gained 0.78%. The company said that its step-down subsidiary, JSW Renewable Energy (Coated) has signed a business transfer agreement with Reliance Power to acquire a 45 MW wind project in Maharashtra for Rs 132 crore.

Lupin rose 0.2%. The pharma major said that its board has approved to carve out trade generics business in India to its wholly owned subsidiary, Lupin Life Sciences (LLSL) on a slump sale basis.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed as anticipation of more key economic readings this week kept sentiment on edge.

U.S. stocks took a breather on Monday amid speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates as soon as June.

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