Indices trade near flat line; European Mkt declines

The key equity barometers trade near the flat line with tiny losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near 22,200 level. PSU bank, auto and bank stocks advanced while media, IT and FMCG shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 18.29 points or 0.02% to 73,854. The Nifty 50 index lost 4.10 points or 0.02% to 22,401.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.17% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.53%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,291 shares rose and 2,488 shares fell. A total of 99 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index registered 60.6 in February, down from 61.8 in January. Despite having slipped, the headline index was comfortably above the neutral mark of 50.0 and signalled a sharp rate of expansion that was well above the series history (since December 2005).

With both manufacturing production and services activity in India increasing during February, there was a further upturn in private sector output. The HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index slipped from a six-month high of 61.2 in January to 60.6, indicating a softer but sharp rate of expansion.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Motors (up 3.04%), Bharti Airtel (up 2.60%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.93%), State Bank of India (up 1.81%), and Bajaj Auto (up 1.73%) were major Nifty gainers.

Bajaj Finance (down 2.66%), Infosys (down 1.57%), Wipro (down 1.48%), LTIMindtree (down 1.45%) and SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.44%) were major Nifty losers.

Tata Motors added 2.51% after the company announced that its board approved a demerger plan. The plan will create two separate publicly traded companies, aiming to empower individual business units and unlock potential synergies across key segments. The demerger will split Tata Motors into two distinct entities: a company focused on the commercial vehicle (CV) business and its related investments; and a company encompassing all passenger vehicle (PV) businesses, including electric vehicles (EVs) and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), along with their related investments.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NTPC rose 1.38% after the company stated that its wholly owned subsidiary NTPC Green Energy has signed a joint venture agreement with Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRVUNL) for development of renewable power parks and projects in Uttar Pradesh.

NBCC (India) rose 0.83%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, HSCC (India) has been awarded with a work order worth Rs 92 crore from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education And Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh.

Macrotech Developers added 1.61% after the company�s board has approved the opening of qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares with the floor price of Rs 1,129.48 per share.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) gained 0.49%. The company said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) to develop green energy and autonomous vessels.

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) declined 1.79%. The company informed that it has achieved 9,462 million units (MU) overall volume in February 2024, registering a growth of 15.4% YoY basis.

IIFL Finance hit a lower limit of 20% after the RBI barred the company from sanctioning, disbursing new gold loans, citing "material supervisory concerns". The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a business restriction on IIFL Finance, effective 4 March 2024. This restriction prohibits IIFL Finance from issuing new gold loans or selling existing ones. The action stems from concerns identified during a recent RBI inspection of IIFL`s gold loan portfolio.

The inspection revealed deviations from standard procedures for gold valuation, breaches of loan-to-value ratio limits, excessive cash transactions, and a lack of transparency in customer fees. These practices constitute violations of regulations and could potentially harm customers.

Global Markets:

European stocks declined while Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as investors showed their disappointment at Beijing`s plans to support the economy as its week-long annual session of parliament, the National People`s Congress, got underway.

China�s �Two Sessions� meeting got under way, with investors watching out for the details of its economic plans after the country projected a GDP growth target of �around 5%� for 2024. The country also expects the inflation rate to rise to �around 3%.�

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, backing away from record highs, while US Treasury yields ticked higher as investors looked ahead to key jobs data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell`s congressional testimony later in the week.

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.

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