Nifty above 17,000; European shares advance

The domestic equity indices came off the day`s high and traded with decent gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 17,000 level. Pharma, healthcare and IT stocks were in demand while realty, media and auto stocks declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 176.61 points or 0.31% to 57,703.71. The Nifty 50 index advanced 59.30 points or 0.35% to 17,004.35.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.20% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.23%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 939 shares rose, and 2,610 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

Numerous global economic releases are scheduled for the final week of the current fiscal year 2022-2023. Absence of significant market triggers this week in the domestic market, investors and traders at home are likely to turn to the international markets for future direction.

Moreover, the week will witness the monthly derivatives series expiry for March on Wednesday, which shall induce some volatility in the domestic market.

Gainers & Losers:

Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 1.75%), Grasim Industries (up 1.34%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (up 1.34%), Divi`s Laboratories (up 1.23%) and Cipla (up 1.21%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 1.65%), Tata Motors (down 1.32%), Axis Bank (down 1.13%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.03%) and Adani Enterprises (down 0.93%) were the top Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 1.75%. RIL said on Friday that its board has designated Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer, as chief financial officer (CFO) of the company with effect from 1 June 2023. The current CFO, Alok Agarwal, will assume a new role as senior advisor to the chairman and managing director of the company assisting him on a wide range of strategic issues with effect from 1 June 2023, after 30 years of service.

Tata Steel added 0.20%. The company announced on Friday that it acquired 4,65,116 equity shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services (TSUISL), on rights basis amounting to Rs 10 crore. TSUISL allotted the shares to Tata Steel at Rs 215 each.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 1.17%. The pharmaceutical major said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 60% shareholding in Vivaldis Health and Foods from its existing shareholders. The acquisition is being made for a cash consideration of Rs 143.30 crore. The company expects to complete the acquisition by the end of May 2023.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals rose 0.97% while Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances slipped 3.34%. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals and Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances have announced a merger to accelerate and smoothen the realisation of synergies of the combined business. Both are listed companies and the merger will take place through shares swap.

Upon Merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly as on the record date will receive 22 equity shares of Crompton for every 5 equity shares held by them in Butterfly, as a consideration for the merger. Post-merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly will hold around 3% stake in the combined entity.

L&T Finance Holdings shed 1.35%. The NBFC said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved merger of subsidiaries L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and L&T Mutual Fund Trustee with L&T Finance Holdings.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 0.05%. The company on Monday announced that its Power Transmission & Distribution business has secured `large` orders in India and overseas. As per L&T classification, the value of the large project is Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe advanced while Asian stocks traded mixed on Monday as investors continue to assess the impact of the banking troubles in the U.S and Europe on the global economy.

US stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a tumultuous week as Federal Reserve officials calmed investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the banking sector.

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