Sensex slides 366 pts, Nifty settles below 16,500; Asian Paints drops over 5%

The domestic equity barometers ended with modest losses on Thursday. The Nifty closed a tad below the 16,500 mark. While autos, banks and financial shares declined, oil & gas, IT and metal stocks were in demand. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 366.22 points or 0.66% to 55,102.68. The Nifty 50 index shed 107.90 points or 0.65% to 16,498.05.

UltraTech Cement (down 6.47%), Asian Paints (down 5.20%), Hindustan Unilever (down 2.65%) and ICICI Bank (down 2.29%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.64% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.35%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,035 shares rose and 1,286 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

The NSE`s VIX index, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 3.68% to 28.16.

Economy:

India`s merchandise export in February 2022 was $33.81 billion, an increase of 22.36% over $27.63 billion in February 2021 and an increase of 21.88% over $27.74 billion in February 2020. Meanwhile, India`s merchandise import in February 2022 was $55.01 billion, an increase of 34.99% over $40.75 billion in February 2021 and an increase of 45.12% over $37.90 billion in February 2020.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.827% as compared with 6.814% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 75.93, compared with its close of 75.80 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement rose 1.03% to Rs 51,820.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.21% to 97.59.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2022 settlement was up $2.27 at $115.20 a barrel. The contract surged 7.58% to settle at $112.93 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Crude oil prices surged after the OPEC and its allies on Wednesday decided to hold production steady despite the recent dramatic spike in oil prices.

Higher crude oil prices could increase India`s fiscal deficit, current account deficit and stoke fuel price inflation.

Foreign Markets:

Europe markets fell across the board while most Asian shares advanced on Thursday. Meanwhile, tensions remained high over the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with oil and material prices continuing to spike.

Ukraine`s second biggest city, Kharkiv, suffered heavy bombardment on Wednesday, while Kherson`s mayor said Russian forces have seized control of the key port city in southern Ukraine. If confirmed, it marks a military victory for Russia.

In U.S., Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell backed a quarter-point interest-rate hike this month to commence a series of increases and didn`t rule out a larger move at some stage, despite uncertainty caused by Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.

Buzzing Segment:

The Nifty Auto index fell 2.28% to 10,261.10. The index has fallen 5.82% in three sessions.

Ashok Leyland (down 6.57%), Eicher Motors (down 3.54%), Bharat Forge (down 2.77%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 2.64%), Bosch (down 2.22%), Tata Motors (down 2.17%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.08%), M&M (down 2.04%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.88%), Balkrishna Industries (down 0.86%), Tube Investments of India (down 0.41%), MRF (down 0.26%) and Amara Raja Batteries (down 0.22%) tumbled.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.84%. Reliance Strategic Business Ventures (RSBVL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, announced a joint venture with Sanmina Corporation (Sanmina) for electronic manufacturing in India. RSBVL will hold 50.1% equity stake in the joint venture entity with Sanmina owning the remaining 49.9%. RSBVL will achieve this ownership primarily through an investment of upto Rs 1,670 crore in new shares in Sanmina`s existing Indian entity, while Sanmina will contribute its existing contract manufacturing business. As a result of the investment, the joint venture will be capitalized with over $200 million of cash to fund growth.

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 14.51. The company`s board has granted in-principle approval for exploring/evaluating various options for capital restructuring/realignment, resolution plan for debt, merger of power business in the group, demerger of its existing operations and other corporate restructuring to streamline the corporate structure and enhance stakeholders` value. The board also delegated powers to the officers of the company to explore/evaluate these various options in consultation with advisors.

L&T Technology Services rose 1.95% after the company announced that it has been recognized as a Global Preferred Engineering Supplier for European multi-national aerospace major Airbus.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) shed 0.66%. The company during the month of February 2022, handled cargo volume of 24.15 million metric tonnes (MMT), registering a growth of 14.4% on a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis.

Vedanta added 2.19%. The mining major has declared a third interim dividend for the fiscal year 2021-22 of Rs 13 per equity share. The record date for the purpose of payment of the dividend is 10 March 2022.

UPL added 3.72% to Rs 714.75. The agri-chemicals major has announced its board has approved the proposal to buy back fully paid-up equity shares from shareholders (other than the promoters, the promoters group, and persons in control of the company), for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 1,100 crore, the maximum buyback size. The company`s board has proposed a share buyback plan at Rs 875 per share.

Supreme Industries fell 0.18%. The company said that it has received letter of intent (LoI) for supply of 7,35,186 units of 10 kilogram (KG) capacity composite LPG cylinders valuing about Rs 170 crore from Indian Oil Corporation. The company expects to execute entire quantity of this order over a period of 12 months.

Hind Rectifiers jumped 4.86% at Rs 192. The company has secured orders of Rs. 57.32 crore in the month of February 2022.

Oriental Rail Infrastructure added 1.36%. The company secured orders worth Rs 26.97 crore from Rail Coach Factory (Hussainpur), Kapurthala (Punjab) for manufacturing and supplying seats and berths to Indian Railways.

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