Indices drift lower in early trade; strong market breadth

The domestic equity barometers traded with modest losses in early trade. The Nifty as trading below the 17,300 mark. Metals, IT and healthcare stocks advanced while FMCG, banks and financials shares declined.

At 09:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 72.01 points or 0.12% to 57,791.92. The Nifty 50 index lost 14.25 points or 0.08% to 17,272.80.

Hindalco (up 3.69%), Maruti Suzuki (up 2.33%), Wipro (up 2.21%), ONGC (up 2.08%) and Tech Mahindra (up 1.52%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Asian Paints (down 1.57%), Power Grid Corp (down 1.18%), Grasim (down 1.16%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.99%) and Britannia Industries (down 0.96%) declined.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.20% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.22%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1708 shares rose and 1004 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 0.57% to Rs 2465.45. Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) announced acquisition of 89% equity stake in Purple Panda Fashions, which owns and operates the Clovia business, with an investment of Rs 950 crore through a combination of secondary stake purchase and primary investment. The Founding team and management will own the balance stake in the company. RRVL is a subsidiary of RIL and holding company of all the retail companies under the RIL Group.

Atul advanced 1.77% to Rs 9885. The company said that a meeting of the board of directors will be held on 25 March 2022, to consider a proposal for buy-back of equity shares.

SMS Pharmaceuticals jumped 8.23% to Rs 104.50. The company received non-exclusive license to manufacture and supply of nirmatrelvir through the Medicine Patent Pool (MPP), an oral COVID-19 medicine developed by Pfizer.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday, as investors reacted to the release of China`s latest benchmark lending rate. China`s one-year loan prime rate was kept unchanged at 3.7% on Monday. Markets in Japan are closed on Monday for a holiday.

Wall Street`s three major indexes closed higher on Friday, with the biggest boost from recently battered technology stocks, after talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Ukraine crisis ended without big surprises.

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