Indices trade lower; European Mkt advance

The key domestic indices continued to trade with moderate losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,300 level after hitting the day�s high of 22,369.45 in morning trade. Private Bank, bank and financial services shares advanced while media, realty and oil & gas shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 168.79 points or 0.23% to 73,508.34. The Nifty 50 index lost 71.75 points or 0.32% to 22,284.55.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.58% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 2.58%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 622 shares rose and 3,189 shares fell. A total of 87 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Axis Bank (up 2.46%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 2.41%), Bajaj Auto (up 1.99%), ICICI Bank (up 1.47%), and IndusInd Bank (up 1.19%) were major Nifty gainers.

NTPC (down 3.28%), Adani Enterprises (down 3.09%), Ultratech Cement (down 2.96%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 2.27%) and JSW Steel (down 2.17%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

JM Financial tanked 19.73% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ordered the company to cease and desist from doing any form of financing against shares and debentures. The country�s banking regulatory has asked the company to stop sanction and disbursal of loans against Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares as well as against subscription to debentures.

"The company shall, however, continue to service its existing loan accounts through the usual collection and recovery process,� the RBI said.

Offering an explanation of the aforesaid regulatory action, the RBI said that this action was necessitated due to certain serious deficiencies observed in respect of loans sanctioned by the company for IPO financing as well as NCD subscriptions.

Force Motors dropped 6.23%. The company announced that it has registered 5.81% increase in domestic sales to 2,366 units in February 2024 as against 2,236 units sold in February 2023.

Havells India said declined 1.42%. The company intends to expand its existing product portfolio with the introduction of kitchen appliances, such as cooktops, hobs, chimneys and other built-in appliances, into it.

Ajmera Realty & Infra India fell 2.31%. The company announced that it has successfully secured credit facilities totaling to Rs 500 crore from Standard Chartered Bank and ICICI Bank for Ajmera Manhattan residential project, to partly prepays the GCP loan.

Sakar Healthcare surged 5.30% after the company`s oncology unit has attained EU GMP approval valid for three years from the audit date of 5th March 2024.

Centum Electronics fell 1.57%. The company said that it has received an order for realization of space-based electronic warfare (EW) payloads from Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced, investors looking forward for U.K. Budget as well as congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ahead of a European Central Bank rate-setting meeting later in the week.

Asian market traded mixed on Wednesday, mirroring a tech slide on Wall Street led by Apple, following a report that iPhone sales dropped in China. A report showed iPhone sales plunged in China in the first six weeks of 2024. Investors monitored shares of Apple suppliers in Taiwan and South Korea.

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Tuesday as market participants eyed upcoming economic data and central bank actions. All eyes are on Fed Chair Jerome Powell`s testimony before Congress. In his semiannual testimony on Wednesday and Thursday, he is reportedly expected to double down on his message that there�s no rush to cut rates.

US services industry growth slowed a bit in February. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing PMI slipped to 52.6 last month from 53.4 in January.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News