Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 1.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market
Asian markets traded lower on Tuesday as investors awaited the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy decision, expected to mark the end of its negative interest rate policy after 17 years. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5% at open, while the Topix remained flat. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.8%, and the Kosdaq eased 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures signaled a weak opening.
On Wall Street, main indexes closed higher on Monday, driven by megacap growth stocks like Alphabet and Tesla, supporting a Nasdaq rebound, while investors anxiously awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20% to 38,790.43, the S&P 500 gained 0.63% to 5,149.42, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 0.82% to 16,103.45.
Stocks News:
👉 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): Tata Sons has proposed to sell 2.34 crore shares of the prominent IT firm at Rs 4,001 per share through block deals, aiming to raise up to $1.1 billion, as per Bloomberg. The offered price reflects a 3.6 percent discount compared to the last traded price.
👉 Tata Steel: Tata Steel UK has opted to halt operations of the coke ovens at the Port Talbot plant in Wales due to a decline in operational stability. To mitigate the impact of the coke oven closures, the company plans to increase coke imports. Tata Steel is presently engaged in advanced consultations with UK trade unions regarding its proposal for a strategic restructuring, which includes shutting down iron and steelmaking assets at Port Talbot.
👉 Veritas (India): In collaboration with Genesys International Corporation, the company has been awarded a Letter of Acceptance from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for a project valued at Rs 155.85 crore. This project encompasses the development, implementation, and upkeep of a 3D city model along with change detection utilizing geospatial technology for BMC.
👉 Lemon Tree Hotels: Lemon Tree Hotels has entered into a license agreement for Lemon Tree Hotels Agartala in Tripura. The hotel is slated to commence operations in FY27. Carnation Hotels, a wholly-owned subsidiary and the hotel management arm of the company, will oversee the management of this hotel.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 2,051.09 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 2,260.88 crore worth of stocks on March 18, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- Retail sales in February 2024 indicated a modest growth of 5% compared to February 2023 levels, as per a survey conducted by the Retailers Association of India (RAI). Within specific categories, sports goods witnessed a 9% increase, followed by footwear at 8%, and QSR (Quick Service Restaurants) at 7%, in comparison to sales figures from February 2023.
- The Bank of Japan is poised to terminate its eight-year-long negative interest rates policy on Tuesday, marking the first interest rate hike in 17 years. According to Reuters, if the nine-member board deems the conditions favorable, the BOJ will establish the overnight call rate as its new target, guiding it within a range of 0-0.1% by offering a 0.1% interest on excess reserves held by financial institutions with the central bank. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield witnessed a 1 basis point (bp) increase to 0.765%, while the two-year government bond yield rose by 1 bp to 0.19%.
- Gold prices strengthened after a brief dip to one-week lows on Monday, as investors awaited insights from a series of central bank meetings scheduled for the week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision on Wednesday, to gauge clues pertaining to inflation and interest rates.
- Crude oil prices continued their ascent amidst reports of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Russian refineries and ongoing OPEC supply cuts. Brent crude, the global benchmark, saw a marginal increase of 0.06% to reach $86.94 a barrel, following a 1.8% surge on Monday, marking the highest close since late October. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate traded 0.06% higher at $82.77.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,737 | 0.1 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,085 | 1.0 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 38,790 | 0.2 % |
| DAX | 17,933 | (0.0) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,723 | (0.1) % |
| Nikkei | 39,740 | 2.7 % |
| Straits Times | 3,172 | (0.0) % |
