Stock Market Today News Live Updates: GIFT Nifty Indicates Gap-Down Open After Trump Threatens Further Strikes; Brent Crude Rebounds To $105 A Barrel

• Citi has maintained its Buy rating on Endurance Technologies and cut the target price to Rs 2,900 from Rs 3,350.
• The brokerage said it has trimmed estimates on a conservative demand growth outlook.
• It expects higher commodity costs to weigh on margins and has rolled forward valuation to September 2027 estimates at a target P/E of 37 times.

• Citi has maintained its Buy rating on Fortis Healthcare with a target price of Rs 1,120.
• The brokerage said disruption to international patient flows from the Middle East is likely to be temporary, with recovery expected once flights resume and travel normalises.
• It said management has reiterated hospital EBITDA margin of about 22% in FY26 and sees margin improvement towards 24-25%. Citi also expects diagnostics to grow at the industry rate of 10-11% by FY27.

• Sai Parenteral, Powerica and Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar are scheduled to list today.
• Sai Parenteral was subscribed 1.08 times overall, with QIB at 1.73 times, NII at 2.45 times and retail at 0.12 times.
• Powerica was subscribed 1.53 times overall, while Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar was subscribed 3.41 times, led by NII demand of 13.40 times.

• NTPC said its Jharkhand coal mine has been transferred to NTPC Mining and commercial operations have started at the site. The group’s total installed capacity now stands at 89,108 MW, while commercial capacity is 88,028 MW. Pace Digitek also secured a Rs 495 crore EPC order from NTPC for a 200 MW battery energy storage system in Bihar.

• Eicher Motors reported March Royal Enfield sales of 1.12 lakh units, with motorcycle sales up 11% year-on-year and exports up 8%. Hero MotoCorp said March two-wheeler sales rose 8.8% to 5.98 lakh units and said it acquired 2.7 lakh shares in Euler Motors for Rs 210 crore, maintaining a 36.67% stake. NMDC said March production rose 51% to 5.35 MT and sales increased 40% to 5.90 MT.

• Karnataka Bank said total deposits rose 3.8% year-on-year to Rs 1.1 lakh crore, gross advances increased 6.9% to Rs 83,337 crore and CASA rose 10% to Rs 36,621 crore as of March 31. Amber Enterprises said its arm raised its stake in Unitronics to 49.66%, while Piramal Pharma said its arm completed the acquisition of Kenalog and associated brands from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

• India has permitted the export of specified quantities of key commodities to the Maldives for 2026-27 under the bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.
• The list includes eggs, potatoes, onions, rice, wheat flour, sugar, dal, stone aggregate and river sand. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade said these exports will remain exempt from any existing or future restrictions or prohibitions during this period.
• For exports of river sand and stone aggregate, CAPEXIL will ensure suppliers and extractors have the required clearances and that mining is not carried out in prohibited coastal regulation zone areas.

Source: PTI

• Ajay Bagga told NDTV Profit that keeping 15-20% cash appears appropriate at this stage.
• He said oil-related disruption could continue for the next one to two months and the Hormuz Strait may remain closed for the next three weeks.
• Bagga said the market is worried about further escalation in the war, FII outflows remain a key issue for Indian markets, and India has not taken enough safeguarding steps.

• Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports are on the watchlist on merger of key arms. UltraTech Cement, ACC and Ambuja Cement are also in focus as cement prices could rise by Rs 20-50 per bag in the first week of April.
• InterGlobe Aviation is on the watchlist on a fuel surcharge hike. Fertiliser, shipping and logistics stocks are also in focus after the Prime Minister chaired a CCS meeting, with intervention seen as likely.
• V-2 Retail, Bansal Wire and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank are in focus on Q4 business updates. Ola Electric and TVS Motor are on the watchlist after March auto sales, while NMDC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Bosch, Prestige Estate Projects, DCM Shriram, NCC and Gallant Ispat are also in focus on company-specific updates.

• Citi said the fourth quarter has historically seen a year-end rise in credit and deposits, but early-quarter weakness has changed the FY26 setup.
• The brokerage said system deposits saw outflows of Rs 1.79 lakh crore in the last fortnight, while Q4-to-date deposit growth stands at 0.6% against 1.7-2.3% in earlier years.
• It said weak mid-March trends reflect tight liquidity conditions. Deposit growth will be the key swing factor, while credit growth may remain relatively resilient.

• HSBC has retained Hold on Asian Paints and Berger Paints, while cutting the target price to Rs 2,550 for Asian Paints and Rs 470 for Berger Paints.
• The brokerage said Q4FY26 may appear strong due to dealer inventory build-up, with dealer stocking playing a bigger role than underlying consumer demand.
• It said consumer price hikes of 10-15% could affect demand quality and quantity, while the announced hikes of 5-10% will take effect from Q1FY27. HSBC expects revenue growth of 8% for Asian Paints and 6% for Berger Paints.

• Key events for the day include Sensex expiry and anchor lock-in expiry for Jinkushal Industries.
• Sai Parenteral, Powerica and Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar are scheduled for listing.
• India Manufacturing PMI and US Initial Jobless Claims data are also due later in the day.

• Jefferies said Indian consumer stocks have delivered strong returns over 25 years and have shown resilience during downturns.
• The brokerage said margin expansion supported earnings during periods of low growth, while investor interest is now low amid current headwinds.
• It said selective opportunities remain, with top picks including Marico, TCPL and Britannia. It added that Colgate and Dabur, now trading below 35 times FY27 price-to-earnings, could also come into focus.

• Jefferies said input cost pressure for Indian healthcare remains manageable so far, with favourable foreign exchange movement and small price hikes helping offset the impact.
• The brokerage said hospitals can partly offset lower footfalls from the Middle East through local patients, though margins may face some pressure.
• It estimates less than 5% of FY27 profits are at risk for the pharma and healthcare sector under current conditions.

• Matt Orton of Raymond James Investment Management said new idea generation should stay on the sidelines for now.
• He said protecting P&L should be the key, while stocks with strong conviction can be added in smaller proportion.
• Orton also said there is no real negotiating option for Iran.

• Seth R Freeman of GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group said consumer spending trends could come under pressure and supply chains could remain affected for months.
• He said it would take months for conditions to return to normal after the damage, even as threats and negotiations continue at the same time.
• Freeman said market signals suggest Trump’s speech was not well received, with US futures down and oil moving higher after the remarks.

• Asia-Pacific markets turned lower as investors assessed Donald Trump’s address on the Iran war.
• South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.22%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.13%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.52% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.40%.
• China’s Shanghai Composite was little changed, down 0.03%.

• US President Donald Trump said the United States could step up military action against Iran in the coming weeks if no agreement is reached.
• He said Washington could intensify strikes and may target Iran’s power infrastructure if talks do not progress.
• The remarks added to geopolitical concerns in global markets.

Catch all the live updates on the speech and reactions here.

GIFT Nifty fell more than 500 points to 22,318, indicating a weak start for the Nifty 50.