Opening Bell:
SGX Nifty is down by 53.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asian indices traded lower following weakness in US indices post a 25 basis point rate hike by Federal Reserve. The Japanese Nikkei is down by 0.42 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up by 0.19 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is down by 0.34 percent in early morning deals.
On Wednesday, Wall Street experienced significant volatility and closed significantly lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve implemented a widely expected 25 basis point policy hike. The central bank also hinted that it may halt future increases considering recent turbulence in the financial sector. The S&P 500 lost 1.65 percent and Nasdaq Composite declined by 1.60 percent respectively.
Stocks News:
?Hero MotoCorp has announced that it will be revising the prices of select motorcycles and scooters starting from April 1, 2023. The revision will result in an average increase of about 2% in the ex-showroom prices of the vehicles. The decision to raise prices is attributed to the increased costs associated with transitioning to On-Board Diagnostics 2 (OBD 2) technology.
?The Government of India has announced plans to sell a 3.5 percent stake in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) through an offer-for-sale (OFS). The sale will will involve the government selling up to 1.75 percent (58.51 lakh) equity shares of the company. The government also has an oversubscription option to sell an additional 1.75 percent (58.51 lakh) equity shares, which would bring the total stake sold up to 3.5 percent.
?Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary, Absolute Sports (Sportskeeda), has announced its acquisition of a 73.27 percent stake in Pro Football Network LLC (PFN), a leading publisher of coverage and analysis for the National Football League (NFL) and college football in the United States. This marks Absolute Sports’ first acquisition in the US sports media market and is a significant step towards expanding its global footprint.
?Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), a leading natural gas distribution company in India, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to collaborate on the development, manufacturing, and deployment of Type-IV cylinders, hydrogen blending in city gas distribution (CGD), and fuel cell-based power backup systems.
?After relentless selling for the past few days, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned marginal net buyers at Rs 61.72 crore Wednesday. DIIs, on the other hand, too bought shares worth Rs 383 crore.
Domestic and International Events
- The dollar was under pressure near seven-week lows on Thursday as U.S. bond yields fell sharply after the Federal Reserve sounded close to calling time on interest rate hikes.
- Oil prices fell on Thursday following three sessions of gains, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell re-stated his commitment to curbing inflation, including the possibility of more interest rate rises.
- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs amid recent turmoil in financial markets spurred by the collapse of two U.S. banks
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 19,591 | 1.7 % |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,266 | 0.3 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones (US) | 32,030 | (1.6) % |
| DAX (Germany) | 15,216 | 0.1 % |
| FTSE 100 (UK) | 7,567 | 0.4 % |
| Nikkei (Japan) | 27,467 | 1.9 % |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 3,221 | 1.5 % |
