Sensex, Nifty to rise; TCS, Infy, Dish TV, HDFC, Adani Ports, Titan shares in focus

Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher today, following firm cues from Asian peers. The positive trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap-up opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 62 points, or 0.39%, higher at 16,003 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:00 AM. Investors will keep an eye on crude prices as the U.S. and the UK proposed ban on Russian oil & gas imports.

On Tuesday, the domestic benchmarks closed higher, snapping four sessions losing streak, led by gains in realty, IT, technology, and pharma stocks. The BSE Sensex rallied as much as 1,163 points from the day's low to end 581 points or 1.1% higher at 53,424 levels. In a similar trend, the Nifty50 index rebounded from its intraday low of 15,671 to settle at 16,013, up 150 points or 0.95%. Among sectors, information technology and realty space gained the most, while metal and oil & gas sectors were among the worst performers. The top gainers on the Sensex pack were Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Wipro and Tech Mahindra.

Stocks to focus

Zydus Lifesciences: The company, formerly known as Cadila Healthcare, said that its subsidiary Sentynl Therapeutics Inc. would acquire a brand from the US-based BridgeBio Pharma. Sentynl Therapeutics, a U.S. based subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences, and BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. on Tuesday executed an asset purchase agreement for the sale of BridgeBio’s Nulibry (Fosdenopterin) for injection.

Housing Development Fina­nce Corporation (HDFC): The mortgage lender has raised ₹10,000 crore through 10-year bonds, which will be utilised for business operations. The bonds carry a coupon of 7.18%.

Auto stocks: India Ratings have revised its outlook for the auto sector to 'neutral' from 'improving' for FY23, citing supply-side constraints and weak rural demand.

Aviation stocks: Shares of SpiceJet and IndiGo will be in focus as scheduled international passenger flights have been allowed to resume on March 27.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): The IT major’s share buyback offer worth ₹18,000 crore will open today and close on March 23. Last month, the company had announced buyback of 4 crore shares at ₹4,500 each.

Adani Ports, Indian Oil: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has inked a pact with Indian Oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) to expand its crude oil volumes at the Mundra Port. IOCL will expand its existing crude oil tank farm at APSEZ’s Mundra Port, thus enabling it to handle and blend additional 10 mmtpa crude oil at Mundra. This will support IOCL’s expansion of its Panipat Refinery (Haryana).

NMDC: The country’s largest iron ore miner has raised the prices of lump ore and fines by ₹400 a tonne each with immediate effect. This is the second price hike in two weeks time. In an exchange filing, the company said it has fixed the prices of per tonne lump ore at ₹6,000 and that of fines at ₹4,960 a tonne.

Dish TV: The shareholders of the satellite service provider rejected all three annual general meeting (AGM) resolutions that were put to vote at the last meeting held in December last year. The shareholders rejected the reappointment of Ashok Mathai Kurien as director, adoption of the audited standalone and consolidated financial statements and report of the board of directors, and ratification of remuneration of cost auditors for FY22.

Titan Company: The Tata Group company is reportedly in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in homegrown wearables maker Noise.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries: The company’s U.S. subsidiary, Taro Pharmaceuticals, has completed the acquisition of subsidiary companies of Galderma.

Eveready Industries: The company's board has approved the appointment of Suvamoy Saha as the Managing Director of the company for three years effective March 8, 2022.

Infosys: Dow Jones and Infosys have announced expansion of the collaboration to develop new human-centered digital experiences.

Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:

Wall Street ends lower in choppy trade

In the overnight trade, all the three major U.S. indices closed lower in volatile trade as investors remained concerned around global economic growth prospects after the U.S. and the U.K. proposed to impose a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports in wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Investors also kept an eye on the U.S. consumer prices data due on Thursday, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to raise interest rates later this month to tame inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.56%, the S&P 500 shed 0.72%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended 0.28% lower.

Asian stocks rebound

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were flashing in green in early deals, undermining weak cues from Wall Street overnight following the news the U.S. and UK would ban Russian oil and energy imports. The record rally in commodity prices, especially crude and nickel, kept investors on edge.

Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 traded higher by 1%, the Straits Times Index in Singapore surged 1.2%, and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.6%.

In a similar fashion, Taiwan's Weighted index rose 1.23% and Australia’s ASX 200 index rallied 1%.

In mainland China, the Shenzhen component fell 0.36%, while the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.6% in early deals.

Brent crude prices top 130$ amid ban on Russian oil

The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged on Wednesday, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis, amid supply concerns as the U.S. and UK announced a ban on Russian oil exports, which constitutes about 10% of world oil supply. Brent crude futures topped $130 a barrel during early trade in Asia, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis, as reports of sanctions on Russian oil left investors jittery.

In the early trading hours on Wednesday, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures soared 1.76% to $125.88 a barrel, while the Brent oil futures rose 1.16% to $130.69 per barrel.

Domestic investors also fear that petrol and diesel prices would be hiked sharply this week as state assembly elections of five states have come to an end. Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged in the country for the last four months despite international crude oil prices crossing $130 a barrel.