Stock Market LIVE Updates: GIFT Nifty suggests a positive start; US, Asian markets gain

HDFC Bank has sold 14,01,72,180 equity shares of HDFC Credila to Kopvoorn BV, Moss Investments, Defati Investments Holding BV, and Infinity Partners, for Rs 95,52,73,40,670. Accordingly, HDFC Credila has ceased to be a subsidiary of HDFC Bank.

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC’s promoters Aditya Birla Capital and Sun Life (India) AMC Investments Inc decided to exercise the oversubscription option (greenshoe option) to the extent of 4.47% of paid-up equity of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, in addition to the base offer size of 7%. With this, promoters are offloading up to 11.46% stake in the company via offer-for-sale (OFS) on March 19-20. On March 19, the non-retail portion of OFS fully subscribed, while the issue will be opened for retail investors on March 20.

Bharti Hexacom, owned by telecom major Bharti Airtel, has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to go ahead with its IPO plans.

The IPO comprises only an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 10 crore equity shares by the only public shareholder Telecommunications Consultants India, with no fresh issue component. This means the entire issue proceeds (excluding IPO expenses) will go to the selling shareholder. Read More

In the early trade itself, TCS-led selling in the IT counters dragged the Index below its immediate support of 21,900. Follow-up selling in other heavyweights mounted pressure on the Index to trade lower and end the session at 21,817.45 with a loss of 238.25 points. All the sectors ended the day in red with IT and Media being the major laggards.

By ending the session lower by 1.24% & 1.19%, Mid and Smallcaps more or less moved in tandem with the Frontline Index.

After violating its immediate support of 21,900, the Index is about to form an advanced harmonic pattern known as Bullish Cypher at 21,740. Post the pattern reversal confirmation, one can expect the target of 22,000 followed by 22,200 respectively.

For FY24 the gross direct tax collections were up 18.74 percent at Rs 22,27,067 crore, while net direct tax collections were up 19.88 percent at Rs 18,90,259 crore, YoY.

Advance tax collections for FY24 rose 22.3 percent at Rs 9,11,534 crore, YoY.

The yen languished near a four-month low against the U.S. dollar and a 16-year trough against the euro on Wednesday, a day after the Bank of Japan’s widely anticipated decision to end its negative interest rate policy.

On Wednesday, the yen weakened to a four-month low of 151.34 per dollar and was last off 0.30% at 151.28, with the multi-decade low of 151.94 within sight. The Asian currency fell 1% on Tuesday after the BOJ decision as most investors had already priced in a change.

Against the euro, yen weakened to 164.35, its lowest since 2008, while against the pound, yen weakened to 192.37, lowest since 2015. Japan markets are closed on Wednesday for a holiday.

Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trading on Wednesday, as a stronger dollar curbed investor appetite while traders took some money off the table after benchmarks rallied to multi-month highs in each of the past two sessions.

Brent crude futures for May delivery fell 19 cents, or 0.2%, to $87.19 a barrel by 0104 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery, which expire on Wednesday’s settlement, fell 35 cents, or 0.4%, to $83.12 a barrel.

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.

The NSE has added Indus Towers to the F&O ban list for March 20, while retaining Balrampur Chini Mills, BHEL, Biocon, Hindustan Copper, Piramal Enterprises, RBL Bank, SAIL, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises on the said list. Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Manappuram Finance, National Aluminium Company, and Tata Chemicals were removed from the said list.

The Nifty has broken down from the rising wedge pattern on the daily chart, suggesting a potential reversal of the uptrend. Additionally, it has fallen below the critical short-term moving average, indicating weakening momentum. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has also shown a bearish crossover, indicating increasing selling pressure. Key levels to watch include resistance at 22000 and support at 21800. A drop below 21700 could lead to further correction in the Nifty index.

The BankNifty experienced another day of sideways trading, indicating ongoing indecision between bulls and bears, marked by the formation of a doji candle. Key levels to watch include support at 46000 and resistance at 47000, where the highest put and call open interests are concentrated. A breakout beyond this range is awaited for a directional move; however, within the range, the bullish sentiment prevails. Traders may consider adopting a buy-on-dip strategy, with 46000 as a stop-loss level.