Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 11.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market
On Wednesday, Asian markets exhibited a diverse trading performance in the aftermath of Wall Street’s recent declines, particularly in the technology sector. Japan’s Nikkei 225 experienced a 0.2% decrease, whereas the Topix saw a 0.3% increase. The broader Kospi in South Korea recorded a 0.25% decline, contrasting with a 0.49% rise in the Kosdaq. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index suggested a positive start.
On Tuesday, the US stock market indices experienced a decline of over 1%, primarily driven by the selling pressure observed in megacap growth stocks and companies within the chip sector. Investors were cautious ahead of this week’s economic data releases and statements from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 404.64 points, or 1.04%, closing at 38,585.19, while the S&P 500 dropped 52.3 points, or 1.02%, ending at 5,078.65. The Nasdaq Composite saw a significant decrease of 267.92 points, or 1.65%, settling at 15,939.59.
Stocks News:
👉 Zomato: Antfin Singapore Holdings Pte, a subsidiary of the China-based Ant Group, is reportedly planning to sell up to 2% stake or 17.64 crore shares in the food delivery platform Zomato. The transaction, which is expected to be worth ₹2,800 crore, will be conducted through a block deal, reported CNBC-Awaaz on Tuesday. The block deal’s floor price has been set at ₹159.4 per share, indicating a 4% discount on Zomato’s current market price, as per the report.
👉 Coal India: Chhattisgarh-based Coal India subsidiary South Eastern Coalfield’s Gevra mine is set to become the largest coal mine in Asia. The mine has been granted environmental clearance to expand production capacity to 70 million tons per year from the current 52.5 million metric tonnes.
👉 Bharat Heavy Electricals: The state-owned company announced on Tuesday that it has secured an order from NTPC to establish a 1,600 MW thermal power project (Stage-II) in Singrauli. The order’s value exceeds ₹9,500 crore, excluding GST, as per BHEL’s regulatory filing. The engineering firm anticipates completing Unit 1 in 50 months and Unit 2 in 54 months. On Monday, BSE had sought clarification regarding news of BHEL securing this order as the sole bidder. In response, the company clarified to the BSE that it had submitted a price bid on December 21, 2023, and is the only bidder for the mentioned NTPC tender, which is a routine business activity.
👉 Adani Green Energy: The company said on Tuesday that an additional 448.95 MW of solar power projects in Khavda, Gujarat, have been put into operation by two of its fully-owned subsidiaries, Adani Green Energy Twenty Four A Ltd and Adani Green Energy Twenty Four B Ltd. Following the company’s disclosure to the stock exchanges on February 14, 2024, a total of 1,000 MW of solar power projects have been operationalised at Khavda, as per the company’s stock exchange filing. On February 14, the company had reported that the same two subsidiaries had operationalised a combined 551 MW of solar power projects at Khavda.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 574.28 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 1,834.61 crore worth of stocks on March 5, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s service sector growth slowed in February, but remained robust, according to a private survey. The HSBC India Services Business Activity Index fell to 60.6, from 61.8, indicating expansion. Despite the decline, service activity reached its second highest level in five months. However, milder growth clouded the business outlook. Of the 400 firms surveyed, 26% expect growth in the year ahead, while 2% predict a decline.
- US services industry growth slowed in February amid a decline in employment, but a measure of new orders increased to a six-month high, pointing to underlying strength in the sector. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing PMI slipped to 52.6 last month from 53.4 in January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index little changed at 53.0.
- Bitcoin prices surged to an all-time high surpassing $69,000 on Tuesday, driven by increased accessibility for trading and constrained supplies of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The price of Bitcoin soared to $69,191.94, surpassing its previous record of $68,991 set in November 2021.
- Crude oil prices steadied after a two-day decline. Brent crude oil eased 0.04% to $82.01 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.03% to $78.13.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,163 | (2.6) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,048 | 0.3 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 38,585 | (1.0) % |
| DAX | 17,698 | (0.1) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,646 | 0.1 % |
| Nikkei | 40,098 | (0.0) % |
| Straits Times | 3,107 | (0.5) % |
