Indices end flat, Nifty settles at 10,227 levels; PSU banks, metals lose
The domestic indices ended largely flat on Friday taking cues from their Asian counterparts.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index ended 1.81% lower led by a fall in the shares of Canara Bank, IDBI Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce. The Nifty Metal index too ended 1.81% down due to a fall in shares of Steel Authority of India Limited, Jindal Steel & Power and Tata Steel.
The Reserve Bank may provide four quarters to Punjab National Bank (PNB) for making provisions against the country’s biggest ever banking fraud of Rs 127 billion allegedly masterminded by billionaire diamantaire Nirav Modi. The bank has written a letter to the banking sector regulator seeking its opinion on making provisions for the fraud, sources said.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,307, down 44 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10.227, down 16 points
Shares of steel companies were under pressure with Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) down more than 4% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 10% and 25% on imports of steel and aluminium respectively on March 8th. Meanwhile, Tata Steel slipped nearly six-month low at Rs 607, down 4% on the BSE in intra-day trade, extending its past two days 4% decline after the company on Wednesday said that it has emerged as the top bidder for debt-laden Bhushan Steel.
State-owned power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on Friday said it has won Rs 117-billion order for setting up a 3×800 Mw thermal power plant in Jharkhand. Shares of BHEL were trading 1.34 per cent higher at Rs 87.15 on the BSE.
L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH) was trading 3% higher at Rs 163 on the BSE after the company said it has raised almost Rs 20 billion from preferential allotment of shares to its promoter Larsen & Toubro (L&T).
Shares of Amtek Group companies were locked in upper circuit of 5% on the BSE for the second straight day after Liberty House Group was chosen as the highest preferred bidder for Amtek Auto’s assets. Amtek Auto (Rs 24.95), Metalyst Forgings (Rs 30.50), JMT Auto (Rs 4.96) and Castex Technologies (Rs 4.57) rose 5% on the BSE with only buyers being seen on these counters.
Shares of GTL and GTL Infrastructure have tanked up to 20% on the BSE after the Global Group firms warned that its operations will be hit with the shutdown of multiple telecom players and filing of bankruptcy petition by Aircel early this month.
Pharma major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories shares fell 2.6 percent intraday Friday after its Medak unit has received five observations from the US health regulator. The stock price, however, recovered a bit to close down 0.7 percent at Rs 2,130.45 on the BSE.
