Indian markets expected to open on a positive note, CCI approves Reliance Retail acquisiton, Coal India gears up for high demand

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is up by 91.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

On Wednesday, the Asia-Pacific markets experienced a mostly positive trend, following the release of a US inflation report that showed a modest increase, and as concerns over the impact of the banking sector seemed to have been contained. The Japanese Nikkei is up by 0.33 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up by 2.07 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is down by 1.74 percent in early morning deals.

The US stock market witnessed a rebound on Tuesday, thanks to the release of inflation data that was largely in line with expectations. Additionally, concerns about contagion in the banking sector were alleviated, leading to a reduction in expectations regarding the magnitude of the rate hike that will be announced at the upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting. The S&P 500 gained 1.68 percent and Nasdaq Composite added 2.14 percent respectively.

Stocks News:

?In a significant development, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) announced on Tuesday that it has given its approval to Reliance Retail’s acquisition of the wholesale operations of German firm Metro AG in India. The approval of the deal is a positive step for Reliance Retail, as it seeks to expand its footprint in the country’s growing retail market.

?Morgan Stanley has sold about 3.73 lakh shares in Divgi TorqTransfer through a block deal for about Rs 22 crore after a muted debut on exchanges. The deal was executed at a gross price of Rs 590.32 per share.

?RailTel Corporation has received an order from Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for supply, installation, integration, testing and commissioning of IT infrastructure in green field Data Centre at New Delhi and Bengaluru along with training and support amounting to Rs 287.57 crore.

?Amid early onset of summer and a pick-up in industrial demand for electricity, state-owned Coal India on Tuesday said it is geared up to meet the demand of dry fuel from the power sector.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 3,086.96 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 2,121.94 crore on March 14, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Underlying US consumer prices rose in February by the most in five months, forcing a tough choice for Federal Reserve officials weighing still-rapid inflation against banking turmoil in their next interest-rate decision.
• Oil prices dropped over 4 percent to a three-month low on Tuesday after a US inflation report and the recent US bank failures sparked fears of a fresh financial crisis that could reduce future oil demand.
• Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday revised its outlook on the US banking system to “negative” from “stable”, citing heightened risks for the sector after the rapid unravelling of SVB Financial Group fuelled fears of contagion.
• Moody’s also said it was expecting the Federal Reserve to continue tightening monetary policy, in contrast to some others who are expecting the bank collapses this month to reshape the trajectory for interest rate hikes.

Key Equity Indices