RailTel Corporation of India has received the work order from BMRCL

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is down by 100.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asia Pacific markets traded lower on Friday as investors digested more economic data out of the U.S. and more hawkish commentary from the Federal Reserve. The Japanese Nikkei is down by 0.54 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down by 0.22 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is down by 0.68 percent in early morning deals.

Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday after unexpectedly strong inflation data and a drop in weekly jobless claims added to fears that the US Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates to tame high prices. The S&P 500 declined 1.38 percent and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.78 percent respectively.

Stocks News:

?Ultra Tech Cement announced commissioning of 1.30 mtpa brownfield cement capacity at Hirmi in Chhattisgarh, and 2.80 mtpa greenfield grinding capacity at Cuttack in Odisha. This is a part of the ongoing capacity expansion. With this, company’s total cement manufacturing capacity in India now stands at 126.95 mtpa.

?RailTel Corporation of India has received the work order from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation for supply, installation testing and commissioning of the IT network infrastructure amounting to Rs 27.07 crore. Also, it received comprehensive annual maintenance contract worth Rs 6.22 crore per year for five years extendable to 10 years. The order will be executed within three months.

?Bharat Forge, Hindustan Aeronautics’ foundry and forge division, and Saarloha Advanced Materials have signed MOU for collaboration in development and production of aerospace grade steel alloys.

?Vedanta is declared as a preferred bidder for nickel, chromium and associated platinum group elements block in Chhattisgarh. The preferred bidder is based on highest final price offer of 4.15% submitted by the company.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,570.62 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 1,577.27 crore on February 16, NSE’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Oil prices settled slightly lower on Thursday after trading in a narrow range as the market weighed mixed US economic signals and prospects for a Chinese demand recovery with a build in U.S. crude stockpiles.
• India’s current account deficit is now seen falling below $100 billion for 2022-23 after two powerful factors moved in tandem in January. Last month, India’s goods exports contracted again, this time by 6.6 percent on a year-on-year basis to $32.9 billion, while imports also fell.
• The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, offering more evidence of the economy’s resilience despite tighter monetary policy.
• Two Federal Reserve officials said on Thursday the US central bank likely should have lifted interest rates more than it did early this month, and warned that additional hikes in borrowing costs are essential to lower inflation back to desired levels.

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