JP Morgan on HCL Technologies, World bank report on the Indian economy, Oil price rise on low US inventory.

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is down by 49.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Equity markets in Asia fell after US stocks halted a four-day winning streak amid a selloff in banks The Japanese Nikkei is down by 1.23 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down by 0.66 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is up by 0.21 percent in early morning deals.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday due to concerns about the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb high inflation and the potential negative impact on the economy. The evidence of a cooling economy exacerbated these worries. All three major indexes declined as data revealed a drop in U.S. job openings in February to the lowest level in almost two years, indicating a cooling labor market. The S&P 500 was down 0.58 percent and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.37 percent, respectively.

Stocks News:

?In anticipation of the earnings season, JP Morgan has placed HCL Technologies Ltd, an Indian IT services provider, under the “negative catalyst watch”, attributing it to the company facing the highest short-term risks.

?Vedanta’s shares are expected to attract attention as the company has recently issued its business update for the fourth quarter. The report highlights a 7% decline in alumina production at Lanjigarh refinery, which stands at 411 kt, primarily due to a scheduled calciner shutdown.

?As of March 2023, Federal Bank has reported a significant growth in its total deposits, reaching Rs 2.13 lakh crore, an increase of 17% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the bank’s advances witnessed an even higher growth rate of 20% and reached Rs 1.7 lakh crore during the same period.

?Indigo Paints has recently announced its plans to acquire a controlling 51% stake in Apple Chemie India. The acquisition will be executed through a combination of a primary capital infusion and a secondary share purchase transaction with the company’s promoters.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 321.93 crores, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 328.24 crores on April 3, the National Stock Exchange’s provisional data showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday on anticipated U.S. crude inventory declines and OPEC+’s latest output cut targets. An industry report indicating a decline of approximately 4.3 million barrels in U.S. crude stocks for the week ending March 31 helped in driving up oil prices.
• India is muscling in on the increasingly lucrative business of space, taking advantage of the geopolitical isolation of China and Russia to pitch itself as a reliable alternative to SpaceX.
• India’ economy is expected to slow in the current fiscal to 6.3 percent on the back of shrinkage in consumption due to slower income growth, World Bank said in a latest report. The report estimates India’s inflation to moderate from 6.6 percent to 5.5 percent in the current fiscal.
• Gold extended gains on Tuesday and crossed the key $2,000 level as the dollar and yields fell, while weaker US economic data emboldened bets for slower rate hikes despite mounting concerns over oil-led inflation.

Key Equity Indices