Share Market LIVE: Sensex, Nifty trade lower amid volatility; Tata Steel, Infosys top losers

Good morning!

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the fifth straight session on Monday, led by gains in banking and IT stocks. Sensex closed 935 points higher at 56,486 and Nifty zoomed 240 points to 16,871. 

What's next? Here's a look at the latest updates of the market today!

11:00 am: RITES stock rises over 4% after firm declares third interim dividend

Shares of RITES Ltd rose over 4% in early trade today after the state-owned firm announced a third interim dividend of Rs 7.50 per share. The record date has been fixed as March 25 for the payment of dividend. RITES stock gained 4.79% to Rs 258.25 against the previous close of Rs 246.35 on BSE.

The stock opened with a gain of 3.19%  at Rs 254.30. RITES stock trades higher than 5 day and 20 day moving averages but lower than 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

The stock has lost 1.42% in one year and fallen 3.59% since the beginning of this year. Total 7,645 shares changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 22.27 lakh on BSE. The market cap of the firm rose to Rs 6,097 crore.

10:30 am: US crude price falls to $98.87 a barrel; sheds by $ 4.14

Oil prices have tumbled, taking some pressure off the inflation sweeping the globe, with a barrel of U.S. crude falling below $100 per barrel after touching $130 last week.

US crude shed $4.14 to $98.87 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It tumbled $6.32 to $103.01 on Monday.

Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, gave up $3.90 to $103.00 per barrel.

10:00 am: Indiabulls Housing Finance jumps 13%

Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance jumped 13 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 169.50 on BSE after the company informed the stock exchanges that Sameer Gehlaut has resigned from the company's Non-Executive Director post with immediate effect. 

The stock opened a tad higher at Rs 154 against the previous close of Rs 150.30 on BSE. With a market capitalisation of more than Rs 7,500 crore, the shares stand higher than 5 day moving averages but lower than 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

The shares hit a 52-week high of Rs 313.50 on June 16, 2021, and 52 week low of Rs 130.20 on March 08, 2022. The stock has delivered 20 per cent return in the last one week.

" l had through my Promoter Companies, recently sold 11.9 per cent stake in it and now owns 9.71 per cent which I intend to hold as its Public Shareholder to participate in its future growth story," Gehlaut stated in his letter.

Gehlaut will also be resigning from the Board of the Company by the end of the current financial year, March 31, 2022.

9:16 am: Market opening

Equity benchmark Sensex opened over 170 points higher at 56,657.50 and Nifty was trading 29 points higher at 16,900.65.

Asian Paints and M&M were the top gainers on Sensex, followed by UltraTech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank and L&T.

9:00 am: Pre-market comment by Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities 

Benchmark indices are expected to open on a negative note as suggested by early trends on SGX nifty. On Monday benchmark indices closed in positive terrain for the fifth consecutive session. 

Investor sentiments were boosted on the back of falling crude oil prices and easing of tension between Russia and Ukraine as both countries look for diplomatic route to end the incessant tussle. The euphoria was magnified after the statements of Chief economic advisor Mr V Anantha Nageswaran stating that India is well placed to counter the effects of war due to strong assumption in the budget for FY23. The reduced selling pressure from FII selling also sent positive signals to the market.  

On the Technical front, the key resistance level for Nifty50 is 16,950 followed by 17,100 and on the downside 16,650 and 16,500 will act as strong support. They key resistance level for bank nifty is 35,600 followed by 35,900 and on the downside 34,800 and 34,300 will act as strong support.

8:40 am: Global updates

Major US stock indexes closed mostly lower on Monday, led by a more than 2% drop in Nasdaq, as investors sold tech and big growth names ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting and an expected hike in interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.05 points to 32,945.24, the S&P 500 lost 31.2 points, or 0.74%, to 4,173.11 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 262.59 points, or 2.04%, to 12,581.22.

Shares in China led losses in Asia-Pacific on Tuesday as investors continued to assess the economic outlook, with developments in the Russia-Ukraine war being monitored as well as Chinese economic data releases expected. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses regionally on Tuesday, dropping 3.64% in morning trade — adding to losses after closing at its lowest since March 2016 on Monday.

South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.82%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.87%. Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 0.22% while the Topix index advanced 0.75%.

8:30 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open lower today as SGX Nifty was trading 71 points lower at 16,837.50.

The Singapore Stock Exchange is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

8:15 am: Market on Monday

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the fifth straight session on Monday, led by gains in banking and IT stocks. 

A fall in global crude oil prices also aided positive market sentiment today. Brent crude oil, the standard for international pricing, declined $2.63 to $110.04 per barrel.

Sensex closed 935 points higher at 56,486 and Nifty zoomed 240 points to 16,871. Infosys, HDFC Bank , State Bank of India, Maruti, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 3.76 per cent.

HUL, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Tata Steel were the only Sensex losers, falling up to 1.66%. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 4 points and 85 points, respectively.