Indian markets expected to open on a positive note, HAL bags new orders, Glenmark Pharma gets USFDA nod

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is up by 107.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets were higher Friday after major Wall Street banks came to the rescue of embattled First Republic Bank in an attempt to bolster confidence in the banking system. The Japanese Nikkei is down by 0.73 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down by 1.24 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is down by 0.14 percent in early morning deals.

A strong rebound by financials helped Wall Street’s main indexes close firmly positive on Thursday, after some of the country’s largest lenders came to the rescue of embattled First Republic Bank. The technology sector also contributed to the gains, helping to boost the Nasdaq Composite to its strongest performance since February 2, 2022. The S&P 500 gained 1.76 percent and Nasdaq Composite added 0.65 percent respectively.

Stocks News:

?Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: Glenmark Pharma arm gets USFDA nod for IND application of solid tumours & lymphomas drug Phase 1/2. Glenmark Specialty SA, the subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has received acceptance from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its investigational new drug (IND) application for GRC 54276 to proceed with a Phase 1/2, for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors and lymphomas.

?IRCON International has furnished a corporate guarantee to SBICAP Trustee Company for providing the term loan of Rs 447.61 crore from the State Bank of India to IrconHBL, special purpose vehicles (SPVs) & wholly owned subsidiaries.

?Defence Ministry clears proposals to buy weapons worth Rs 70,000 crore, HAL bags almost 50% of orders. In the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved proposals to procure Rs 70,000 crore worth of different weapon systems for the Indian defence forces.

?Lemon Tree Hotels has signed a License Agreement for a 60 rooms property in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan under the brand ‘Lemon Tree Hotels’. The hotel is expected to be operational by July, 2026. Subsidiary Carnation Hotels will be operating this hotel.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 282.06 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 2,051.45 crore on March 16, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Oil prices settled 1% higher on Thursday, ending a three-session losing streak, after reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia met to discuss ways to enhance market stability.
• The European Central Bank stuck to a planned interest rate increase Thursday as it remained laser-focused on battling sky-high inflation despite market turmoil over fears of a widening banking crisis.
• With the bulk of relevant economic data now in hand ahead of their policy meeting next week, US central bankers are seen pressing on with their inflation-fighting campaign with a quarter-point interest-rate hike that just days ago looked possibly derailed by turmoil in the banking sector.
• The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to continued labor market strength, though financial market turmoil is casting a shadow over the economy.

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