As oil prices hit an eight-year high following the escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia, benchmark indices ended lower than 1 percent on March 2, with banking, financial, auto, pharma and select IT stocks all losing ground.
India VIX rose 2.3% to 29.2, indicating market volatility. Upcoming sessions may remain volatile until India VIX stabilizes below 20.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell shares worth Rs 4,338.94 crore in the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,061.70 crore on March 2 to offset the flow of FIIs.
Brent crude futures rose to $ 116.83 a barrel, the highest level since August 2013, as supply problems persisted.
Wall Street rose sharply on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted that the central bank would raise interest rates lower than some investors had feared.
Asian markets are also trading higher, following Wall Street.
SGX Nifty indicates a positive opening.
Stocks In News;
Vedanta: The Board has approved a third interim dividend of Rs. 13 per equity share for the financial year 2021-22. The record date for dividends is set for March 10.
Future Retail:
Amazon.com will begin criminal court proceedings this week against Future Retail for allowing a major competitor to transfer assets despite a legal ban. Amazon and Future Group have been embroiled in a legal crisis for more than a year, which has prevented them from selling Future's $ 3.4 billion assets to Reliance Industries. Earlier this week, Reliance began acquiring about 500 of Future's stores, renaming them as its own outlets.
Oil companies: Petrol and diesel prices are likely to resume after next week's state elections to close the gap of Rs 9 per liter created by international oil prices crossing $ 100 a barrel.
FMCG companies: Rural demand fell sharply after five quarters of good growth due to inflation. High inflation in 2021 led to double-digit inflation for three consecutive quarters, resulting in lower consumption in urban markets and a sharp decline in growth in rural areas.
UPL Ltd: Agri-Chemicals has announced a buy-back of shares worth up to ₹ 1,100 crore from shareholders.
NMDC; During April-February 2021-22, iron ore production increased by 26% to 37.18 million tonnes. Over the 11-month period, NMDC's sales grew by 25.5 per cent to 36.57 million tonnes.
Valiant Communications: Investor Duane Park acquired 1.21% of the company's equity shares through open market transactions. With this, the stake in the company has increased from 9.14 per cent to 10.35 per cent.
