SENSEX SLIDES 236 PTS, BROADER MKT OUTPERFORMS

The key equity barometers continued to trade in a narrow range in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 22,050 mark. Realty, oil & gas and metal shares witnessed buying demand while media, bank and IT stocks declined.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 236.28 points or 0.32% to 72,590.96. The Nifty 50 index lost 47.50 points or 0.21% to 22,049.25.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.67% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.19%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,532 shares rose and 2,317 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion for the week ended March 15, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen by $10.47 billion to $636.095 billion.

Gold reserves increased by $425 million to $51.14 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $65 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was down by $129 million to $4.689 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Gainers & Losers:

Bajaj Finance (up 2.50%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.07%), Britannia Industries (up 1.87%), ONGC (up 1.71%) and Larsen & Toubro (up 1.50%) were major Nifty gainers.

Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.96%), Eicher Motors (down 1.59%), Divis Laboratories (down 1.27%), Wipro (down 1.09%) and Bharti Airtel (down 1.08%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose 1.49% after the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 95% stake of Gopalpur Ports Limited (GPL) from the existing shareholders [about 56% stake from SP Port Maintenance Private Limited (SP Group) and about 39% stake from Orissa Stevedores Limited (OSL)] of GPL. The equity consideration for 95% stake is Rs. 1,349 crore, with an enterprise value of Rs. 3,080 crore.

Bharti Airtel fell 1.07%. Bharti Hexacom, a subsidiary of the company, is launching an initial public offering (IPO) to allow existing shareholder TCIL to sell a portion of its holdings. Telecommunications Consultants India (TCIL) will offload 15% stake through offer for sale.

Ultratech Cement declined 0.81%. The company said that it has commissioned 1 million ton per annum (MTPA) brownfield cement capacity at Roorkee, Uttarakhand taking the unit�s capacity to 2.1 MTPA.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) jumped 4.76% after the company announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the construction of a subway/underpass in Kolkata.

Global Markets:

Most of the European markets declined while Asian stocks traded higher on Tuesday, as anticipation of more key economic readings this week kept sentiment on edge.

U.S. stocks took a breather on Monday amid speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates as soon as June.

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