Sensex tanks 733 points; Nifty holds 15,000

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After rallying around 3.3% in the first three days of March Indian benchmark indices opened a gap down ahead of weekly options expiry. Sensex lost 733 points or 1.43% to open at 50,711, Nifty50 at 15,026 tanks 218 points.

28 of 30 Sensex stocks opened in the red. HDFC twins were the biggest losers on the Sensex down 2.8% followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv & Bajaj Finance lost over 2% in opening trades.

Sectorally, Nifty Bank opened with losses of 1.96%. The Nifty Metal index was down 1.79% & Nifty Auto fell over a per cent. While Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG, Nifty IT & Nifty Pharma lost anywhere between 0.20% to 0.70%.

The volatility index, India VIX,  shot up 5% to 23.4 levels.

Stocks in spotlight

Housing Development Finance Corporation on Wednesday reduced home loans interest rates by 5 basis points to 6.75%.

RPP Infra Projects has won four work orders worth Rs 1,000 crore. The company has received the order from Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board for Rs 131.14 crore. The company has also received orders from Highways Department- Chennai Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor project for Rs 558.66 crore. It has secured Rs 187.14 crore order from Greater Chennai Corporation – Strom Water Drain Department and Rs 123.07 crore order from Water Resource Department, Tamil Nadu.

Bank of Baroda has raised Rs 4,500 crore equity capital through qualified institutional placement (QIP). The capital raising committee of the board on March 3, 2021 approved the issue and allotment of 55,07,95,593 equity shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers at issue price of Rs 81.70 per share against the floor price of Rs 85.98 apiece. Total seven buyers were allotted more than five per cent of the equity shares offered in the issue.

SpiceJet has tied-up with WheelTug for reserving 400 production slots for the electric taxi system. The application of such a system helps move an aircraft forward or backward without powering its engines or using external tugs. The electric taxi system will enable SpiceJet in saving fuel, reducing carbon emissions as well as noise levels and improving fleet utilisation, thereby directly improving the bottom line. The WheelTug system places high-torque motors in the nose wheels of the aircraft.

Bharti Airtel has raised $750 million through allotment of ‘unsecured senior fixed rate notes’ to eligible investors. The notes will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading.

Tata Motors’ wholly owned subsidiary — Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has set up charging infrastructure across 22 retail outlets in the country as it prepares to launch its all-electric SUV, Jaguar I-PACE, later this month. Twenty-two retail outlets across 19 cities are now EV ready in terms of infrastructure, as well as sales and after-sales support.

SBI Cards and Payment Services has launched digital payment solution – SBI Card portfolio enabled on Jio Pay service. Currently only Cards issued in Indian territory are enabled on Jio Pay service. However customers may transact using his / her SBI Card through Jio Pay service in international locations.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has declared that its service network has crossed 4,000 outlet mark across the country, covering 1,989 towns and cities. It has added 208 new service workshops in 2020-21, despite tough conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Thursday following overnight declines on Wall Street as bond yields rose again.

US stocks posted heavy losses on Wednesday as rising bond yields spooked investors. The weakness came as the 10-year Treasury yield extended gains. The benchmark rate climbed to a high of 1.49% on Wednesday before retreating slightly. Last week, the yield surged to a high of 1.6% in a move that some described as a “flash” spike.

In oil developments, OPEC and its non-OPEC partners — an energy alliance sometimes referred to as OPEC+ — are expected to convene via videoconference on Thursday to discuss how to manage supply to the market.