Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 25.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market
Asian markets posted gains on Wednesday, buoyed by the positive momentum from Wall Street’s overnight performance. Japanese markets remained closed for a public holiday. South Korea’s Kospi surged by 1.12%, while the Kosdaq edged up by 0.34%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures suggested a robust start to the trading day.
In the US, stock market indices closed higher on Tuesday, with energy and tech stocks leading the rally. Investors awaited cues on interest rate policy from the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 320.33 points, or 0.83%, to 39,110.76, while the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points, or 0.56%, reaching 5,178.51. The Nasdaq Composite also ended on a positive note, up 63.34 points, or 0.39%, at 16,166.79.
Stocks News:
👉 TCS: TCS announced on Tuesday that the US-based Central Bank has selected TCS BaNCS for upgrading its primary technology infrastructure. This strategic alliance aims to establish seamless and adaptable customer onboarding procedures, supporting the bank’s ongoing expansion, as disclosed in a stock exchange filing.
👉 UltraTech Cement: The Competition Commission of India has approved UltraTech’s acquisition of Kesoram Industries’ cement business. The company’s board of directors had sanctioned this acquisition in November 2023.
👉 Vodafone Idea: In an exchange filing on Tuesday, Vodafone Idea stated that it would allocate equity shares worth ₹1,440 crore from optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) to ATC Telecom Infrastructure. Following the conversion, ATC will hold 2.9% of the revised shareholding. ATC requested the conversion of 14,400 OCDs, totaling ₹1,440 crore, into 1.44 billion fully paid-up equity shares with a face value of ₹10 each on March 18, 2024, in accordance with the terms of the OCDs.
👉 The market regulator, SEBI, confirmed on March 19 that an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was involved in the front-running of a big client’s trades. In the confirmatory order, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said, “The Interim Order was passed based on the prima facie conclusions to prevent further perpetration of fraudulent trading activity and to prevent defalcation of the wrongful gains cumulatively amounting to INR 244.09 lakh (as elaborated in the Interim Order).
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,421.48 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 7,449.48 crore worth of stocks on March 19, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- In FY24, gross direct tax collections surged by 18.74 percent to reach Rs 22,27,067 crore, with net direct tax collections also witnessing a significant increase of 19.88 percent to Rs 18,90,259 crore compared to the previous year. Advance tax collections for FY24 saw a substantial rise of 22.3 percent, totalling Rs 9,11,534 crore year-on-year.
- The Japanese yen slumped to a four-month low against the US dollar and a 16-year low against the euro on Wednesday, following the Bank of Japan’s decision to end its negative interest rate policy and implement its first rate hike in 17 years. The yen weakened further to 151.34 per dollar and 164.35 against the euro, hitting its lowest levels since 2008. Against the pound, it dropped to 192.37, the lowest since 2015, according to Reuters.
- Gold prices experienced a decline on Tuesday, attributed to the strengthening of the US dollar, as investors awaited insights into the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates from Chair Jerome Powell’s speech post the central bank’s policy meeting on Wednesday.
- Crude oil prices witnessed a decrease after a two-day increase, with Brent crude futures for May delivery dropping by 0.2% to $87.19 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery declining by 0.4% to $83.12 per barrel.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,529 | (1.2) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,063 | (0.7) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 39,111 | 0.8 % |
| DAX | 17,987 | 0.3 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,738 | 0.2 % |
| Nikkei | 40,004 | 0.7 % |
| Straits Times | 3,174 | 0.1 % |
