Market slides for 3rd day, Nifty ends below 17,300

The benchmark indices closed with small cuts on Friday, declining for the third straight session. After hovering near the flat line for most part of the session, the Nifty closed below the 17,300 level. Oil & gas and pharma stocks were under pressure.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 59.04 points or 0.10% at 57,832.97. The Nifty 50 index slipped 28.30 points or 0.16% at 17,276.30.

Fears looming around the Russia-Ukraine issue continued to spook investors. The market is also worried about the imminent rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve to keep the soaring inflation under control.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.8% each.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,154 shares rose and 2,201 shares fell. A total of 116 shares were unchanged.

National Hydrogen Mission:

The government on Thursday unveiled India`s new green hydrogen policy. The National Hydrogen Mission aims to aid the government in meeting its climate targets and making India a green hydrogen hub. This will help in meeting the target of production of 5 million tonnes of Green hydrogen by 2030 and the related development of renewable energy capacity. Hydrogen and Ammonia are envisaged to be the future fuels to replace fossil fuels. Production of these fuels by using power from renewable energy, termed as green hydrogen and green ammonia, is one of the major requirements towards environmentally sustainable energy security of the nation. Government of India is taking various measures to facilitate the transition from fossil fuel / fossil fuel-based feed stocks to green hydrogen / green ammonia.

The Ministry of Power has waived the power transmission charges for 25 years for Green Hydrogen/ Ammonia manufacturers, allowed them to buy renewable power from exchanges or their own unit and allowed these companies to bank unconsumed renewable power for up to 30 days with power distribution companies (Discom). These companies will be provided open access within 15 days of application.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.667% as compared with 6.674% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 74.65, compared with its close of 75.065 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement fell 1.04% to Rs 49,867.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.01% to 95.812.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2022 settlement fell $2.45 or 2.64% at $90.52 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones index futures were up 114 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stocks today.

European markets advanced while Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday, with global sentiment hanging in the balance as the Ukraine-Russia crisis reaches a pivotal moment.

Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an urgent appeal against a Russian invasion, after Western leaders rubbished the Kremlin`s claims of a drawback of troops and Ukraine accused pro-Russian separatists of shelling a civilian village.

Russian-backed rebels and Kyiv`s forces reportedly traded accusations that each had fired across a ceasefire line on Thursday and U.S. president Joe Biden said his sense was that a Russian invasion "will happen in the next several days."

In the US, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000 for the week ended February 12.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 1.08% to 7,558.45. The index rose 2.97% in the past three sessions.

Adani Total Gas (down 2.71%), ONGC (down 2.18%), Petronet LNG (down 1.87%), MRPL (down 1.39%), Mahanagar Gas (down 1.18%), HPCL (down 1.16%), Castrol India (down 1.03%), Indraprastha Gas (down 0.87%), Oil India (down 0.84%), Reliance Industries (down 0.66%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.35%), IOC (down 0.25%) and BPCL (down 0.04%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NXTDIGITAL jumped 8.99% to Rs 436. The board of NXTDIGITAL (NDL) at its meeting held on 17 February 2022, approved the proposed scheme of arrangement between NDL and Hinduja Global Solutions (HGSL) and their respective shareholders - for the demerger of the "digital, media & communication business" undertaking of NDL into HGSL on a going concern basis.

As per the valuation, each shareholder of NDL holding 63 equity shares will receive 20 fully paid equity shares (post bonus) of face value of Rs 10 per share of HGSL. These new share allotments in HGSL will be over and above the existing shares of NDL held by the shareholders, thus retaining their existing shareholding in NDL.

Ambuja Cements dropped 5.87%. The company recorded 49.4% fall in standalone net profit to Rs 252 crore despite a 6.1% increase in net sales to Rs 3,679 crore in Q4 CY2021 over Q4 CY2020. Sales volume (cement + clinker) in Q4 CY21 was 7.2 million tons (up 3% Y-o-Y). Cement demand remained subdued, especially in the month of November 2021. Realisation improved by 4% to Rs 5,135 per ton in Q4 CY21 from Rs 4,926 per ton in Q4 CY20. Improvement in realization was on account of favourable geo mix and product mix, the cement maker said. During the quarter and year ended 31 December 2021, there was an exceptional charge of Rs 65.69 crore on account of restructuring cost. EBITDA fell by 26% to Rs 568 crore in Q4 CY2021 from Rs 768 crore in Q4 CY2020.

Coal India advanced 2.58%. The state-run firm, in an exchange filing on Friday announced that its dispatches, as of 16 February, exceeded total supplies logged in FY21. Coal India supplied 575 MTs of coal during the period bettering the annual dispatch of in financial year 2021. Till 16 February of the current fiscal, coal dispatch to power plants of the country was up at 468.4 MT as compared to 381 MT in the corresponding period last year, posting a growth of 23% year on year. Coal India said 9.4% growth in power generation till December FY22 was the highest in a decade on the back of a strong post COVID-19 economic revival. Meanwhile, coal imports were down to a nine-year low due to a sharp increase in international coal prices.

Lupin slipped 0.40%. The company, on Thursday, announced that the USFDA has approved the company`s supplemental New Drug Application to expand the use of SOLOSEC (secnidazole) in the treatment of bacterial vaginosis. The drug will be used for female patients 12 years of age and older and in the treatment of trichomoniasis for all patients 12 years of age and older.

CSB Bank declined 1.51%. The bank said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the deputy managing director of the bank, for a period of three years. On June 8, 2021, the bank had announced the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the deputy managing director of the bank, subject to RBI`s approval.

Gensol Engineering hit an upper circuit limit of 5% to Rs 259.45 after the company said it bagged deals worth over Rs 70 crore for building solar power projects of around 24 MWp cumulative capacity in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. Gensol Engineering has received purchase orders for the development of grid-connected ground-mount and rooftop solar power generation systems cumulating to a capacity of around 24 megawatt peak (MWp) in the states of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. The cumulative price of these projects is pegged at over Rs 70 crore.

Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.36%. The company said that it has signed a share purchase agreement for acquiring not more than 21,875 equity shares from the existing shareholders of M.I.T.R.A. Agro Equipments (MITRA), an associate of the company. The shareholding of the company in MITRA would stand increased to 47.33% (on a fully diluted basis) from the present 39.02% (on a fully diluted basis) upon completion of the aforementioned transaction.

M.I.T.R.A. Agro Equipments manufactures and sells agricultural sprayers. MITRA operates in the fast-growing horticulture sprayers segment and is among the leading players in the organized segment. It had a turnover of Rs 2.9 crore for FY21. The additional share purchase in MITRA would support the company`s Farm Equipment Sector`s growth in the horticulture equipment sector. The cost of the said acquisition would not exceed Rs 7.005 crore (for upto 21,875 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 3,192.23 per equity share).

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