Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Snap Six-Day Rally As HDFC Bank, Infosys Drag

Overseas investors turned net buyers of Indian equities on Wednesday after two consecutive days of selling.

Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth Rs 284.66 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The yield on the 10-year bond closed flat at 7.06%.

Source: Bloomberg

The local currency closed flat at 82.97 against the U.S. Dollar.

Source: Bloomberg

The benchmark indices erased early gains and declined sharply to snap six days of gains as HDFC Bank Ltd. and Infosys Ltd. weighed the markets.

Nifty Pharma declined the most as Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. dragged the index. Nifty Energy and Nifty IT index also fell over 1% on Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 434.31 points, or 0.59%, lower at 72,623.09, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 141.90 points, or 0.64%, to end at 22,055.05.

During the day, the Sensex fell as much as 0.83% to an intraday low of 72,450.56. The Nifty declined 0.90% to an intraday low of 21,997.95.

The Indian market is facing stiff resistance at higher levels, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. "The valuation of a broader index is at a significant premium, leading to an unfavourable risk-reward, which influences investors to book profits."

For day traders now, 22,150/73,000 would act as a crucial resistance zone, Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities said. As long as the market is trading below the same, the weak sentiment is likely to continue, he said.

European stocks traded lower from a near-record high amid mixed earnings among the biggest companies.

Big tech dragged the U.S. stock market away from its all-time highs, with Wall Street awaiting Nvidia Corp.’s earnings Wednesday. Traders will also await cues from the U.S. FED minutes.

Sahres of HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Larsen and Toubro Ltd., NTPC Ltd., and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. weighed on the index.

Whereas, Shares of State Bank of India Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., IndusInd Bank Ltd., and JSW Steel Ltd. positively contributed to the Nifty.

Broader markets underperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap index fell 1.27%, and the S&P BSE Smallcap declined 0.84%.

On BSE, 19 out of 20 sectors declined, and only one advanced. The S&P BSE Oil and Gas sector was the worst performer among sectoral indices, while the S&P BSE Realty index rose 1.96% to become the top performer.

Nine out of the 12 sectors on the NSE ended in red. Nifty Media was the top loser while Nifty Realty gained the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,365 stocks advanced, 1,477 stocks declined, and 100 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Global markets treaded cautiously awaiting the U.S. FED minutes, while Chinese markets were buoyed by policy interventions, Nair said. "Concerns lingered since investors were heavily betting on a U.S. FED rate cut, which is put at risk by January's higher-than-expected inflation."

• Ambuja Cements Ltd. is to invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up cement grinding unit.

• It will set up a 4 MTPA cement grinding unit in Jharkhand.

Source: Exchange Filling

India's benchmark stock indices traded higher through midday on Wednesday, led by gains in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd.

As of 11:55 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 rose 21.50 points, or 0.1%, to 22,218.45, and the S&P BSE Sensex gained 41.81 points, or 0.06%, to 73,099.21.

The Nifty hit a fresh record high of 22,249.40, and the Sensex touched 73,267.80 so far during the day.

"Despite a neutral global market sentiment and slight selling from foreign institutional investors, the domestic market remains robust, hitting a lifetime high for the second consecutive day. We anticipate Nifty to trade with a positive bias today," said Shrey Jain, founder and chief executive officer, SAS Online.

On the downside, significant put strikes are observed at 22,000 and 22,100 is expected to provide immediate support, Jain said.

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., State Bank of India and Tata Steel Ltd. were positively contributing to the Nifty.

Whereas, Axis Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Power Grid Corp. of India were weighing on the index.

On NSE, five sectors of the 12 advanced, four declined, and three remained flat. Nifty Realty was the top performing sector, while Nifty Media was the worst performer.

Broader markets were trading mixed. The S&P BSE Midcap was 0.29% lower, and the S&P BSE Smallcap was trading 0.03% higher.

Twelve of the 20 sectors compiled by BSE Ltd. were trading in negative, and eight were trading in positive. S&P BSE Metal rose the most among peers, and S&P BSE IT fell the most.

The market breadth was split between buyers and sellers, Around 1,810 stocks gained, and 1,871 stocks fell, and 126 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

• UltraTech Cement Ltd has commissioned 1.8 mtpa brownfield cement capacity at Kotputli in Rajasthan.

• Alert: This forms part of 22.6 mtpa capacity expansion announced in June, 2022

Source: Exchange Filing

• Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Ltd signed a pact with Wipro Ltd for employee expense management platform.

Source: Exchange Filing

• HFCL Ltd approved setting up optical fiber cable manufacturing facility in Poland.

• Poland facility to have initial capacity of 3.25 mfkm/year, capital outlay of up to Rs 144 crore outlay.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Patel Engineering JV gets contract bid worth Rs 525 crore for irrigation project in Telangana.

• The company's share in irrigation contract is Rs 268 crore; Project to be completed in 24 months.

Source: Exchange filing

• Medplus Health Services Ltd.'s board decided not to proceed with fundraising plans.

• Defers expansion plans for diagnostics division beyond Hyderabad.

• Expansion of diagnostics division on hold until the profitability of pilot project is established.

• Approves expansion of pharmacy business through internal accruals and working capital loan.

Source: Exchange filing

• Tata Power Company Ltd collaborated with BluSmart with arm of company for sourcing green power.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd had 10 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• The company had its 0.2% equity changed hands at Rs 290.5 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Devyani International Ltd.'s surged over 5% after in pre-market equity change in hands. The company is the franchisee for Yum Brands which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in India.

At least 5.23 crore shares, or 4.3% equity, changed hands in large trades, according to Bloomberg data. The buyers and sellers, however, were not known immediately.

U.S.-based Yum Restaurants India Pvt. plans to divest its entire 4.4% stake in quick service restaurant operator Devyani International Ltd. through open market transactions, according to a Bloomberg report.

Shares of the company rose as much as 5.59% to Rs 175 apiece, compared to a 0.04% advance in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 at 9:47 a.m. The stock is trading 1.93% higher at Rs 168.90.

It has risen 10.36% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 7.2 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 51.69.

15 out of the 22 analysts tracking the stock have a 'buy' rating on the stock, as many as three recommend a 'hold' and four suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside 9.8%.

Shares of DLF Ltd jumped to over 16-year high on Wednesday after the real estate developer informed the exchanges it has acquired land parcelsin Gurugram.

DLF Ltd is to acquire total 28.49 acre in Gurugram, Haryana. Out of which registration of first 19.29 acre is completed at a cost of Rs 858 crore, said the company in an exchange filing.

The transaction helped the real-estate developers to facilitate patrial redemption of bond for an amount of Rs 775 crore held by the company.

Remaining land will be acquired by the DHDL once the approval is granted subsequently redeeming balanced Rs 50 crore, held by the company.

DLF Home Developers Ltd, subsidiary of the company, has entered in to a settlement agreement with Axis Trustee Services, IREO Private Limited, and the DLF Ltd for the acquisition of the land parcel.

The scrip rose as much as 2.79% to Rs 888.00 apiece, the highest level since Feb 18, 2008. It was trading 2.25% higher at Rs 883.35 apiece, as of 10:30 a.m. This compares to a 0.05% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 21.7% on year-to-date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.46 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 71.25, which implied the stock is slightly overbought.

Out of 20 analysts tracking the company, 14 maintain a 'buy' rating, three recommend a 'hold,' and three suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a downside of 7.2%.

Shares of ABB India Ltd. surged nearly 9% as the company reported the highest-ever fourth-quarter revenue in the last 5 years.

Net profit of the electrification and automation major rose 10.9% year-on-year to Rs 338.7 crore for the October-December period, the company said in their exchange filing on Tuesday.

ABB India's stock rose as much as 8.92% during the day to Rs 4,928 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 8.86% higher at Rs 4,925.35 apiece, compared to a 0.02% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 10:37 a.m.

It has risen 55.4% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 26 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 63.7.

15 out of the 29 analysts tracking ABB India have a 'buy' rating on the stock, as many as nine recommend a 'hold' and five suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential decline of 0.4%.

• Campus Activeweat at 18.7 x its 30 day average, up 8.5%

• Bajaj Consumer Care at 6.61x its 20 day average, up 7.8%

• ABB India at 5.22x its 30 day average, up 8.4%

• Macrotech Developers at 3.2x its 30 day average, up 4%

Shares of Paytm operator, One 97 Communications Ltd. hit a 5% upper circuit for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.

On Monday, Jefferies moved Paytm-operator One97 Communications Ltd. to 'not rated' from 'underperform', until the “news flow settles down”. As the company is hit by regulatory action by the Reserve Bank of India, the brokerage decided not to rate the stock, it said in a Feb. 19 note.

Paytm stock hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 395.05 apiece on the NSE. This compares to a 0.21% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 9:54 a.m.

It has fallen 36.59% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.2 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 33.36

Six out of the 14 analysts tracking Paytm have a 'buy' rating on the stock, as many as three recommend a 'hold' and five suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside 82.3.

Shares of Campus Activewear Ltd. rose over 11% after large trade.

At least 40.7 lakh shares, or 1.3% equity, changed hands in a large pre-market trade at Rs 245 apiece, according to Bloomberg data. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Campus Activewear stock rose as much as 11.28% during the day to Rs 272.7 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 10.57% higher at Rs 270.95 apiece, compared to a 0.14% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 09:42 a.m.

It has fallen 25.6% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 52 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 58.8.

Four out of the eight analysts tracking Campus Activewear have a 'buy' rating on the stock, two recommend a 'hold' and another two suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential decline of 3%.

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. hit the 15% lower circuit on Wednesday following news report that the Securities and Exchange Board of India has uncovered a $241 million accounting issue.

Bloomberg said that the market regulator found that about 20 billion rupees, or $241 million, may have been diverted from the embattled media firm.

"That’s roughly 10 times more than initially estimated by SEBI investigators," Bloomberg quoted people aware of the development. The regulator has been calling in senior officials at Zee including founders Subhash Chandra, his son, Punit Goenka, and some board members, to explain their stance, the report said.

The media giant has however declined reports pertaining to accounting issues terming them as "incorrect and false". "Pursuant to the SAT order, which granted relief to the current Key Managerial Personnel (KMP), the Company has been in the process of providing all the comments, information or explanation requested by SEBI, and has extended complete co-operation on all aspects.” a company spokesperson told NDTV Profit.

Shares of the company fell as much as 15% to hit the lower circuit of Rs 163,75 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 13.34% lower at Rs 166.95 apiece, compared to a 0.06% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 9:25 a.m.

It has fallen 20.75% in the last 12 months.

Two out of the 22 analysts tracking Zee have a 'buy' rating on the stock, as many as four recommend a 'hold' and 16 suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 1.6%.

Shares of Hindalco Industries Ltd. rose over 5% after its wholly owned American subsidiary, Novelis Inc., filed for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Novelis has submitted a draft registration statement on Form F-1 with the SEC relating to the proposed IPO of its common shares, the company said in a news release on Tuesday. 

The proceeds from the issue will go to the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, and Novelis will not receive any proceeds from the sale of common shares.

Hindalco acquired Novelis in 2007 in a $6 billion all-cash transaction, including debt. 

Hindalco's stock rose as much as 5.16% during the day to Rs 538 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 2.47% higher at Rs 524.25 apiece, compared to a 0.01% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 09:33 a.m.

It has risen 21.49% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 8.1 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 39.3.

Twenty-one out of the 25 analysts tracking Hindalco have a 'buy' rating on the stock, one analyst recommends a 'hold' and three suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 9.1%.

India's benchmark indices opened higher on Wednesday as gains in shares of ICICI Bank Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., and ITC Ltd supported.

As of 09:32 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 4.05 points or 0.02% down at 22,192.90, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 20.14 points or 0.03% up at 73,077.54.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose to fresh record high to 22,218.60 right after opening. In pre-open, the index scaled a high of 22,248.85.

"The Nifty 50 has scaled a new all time high and we expect some resistance near to 22,400 levels being the highest call OI in the weekly expiry. The hourly support range has moved higher to 22,000 levels and on the downside the trend reversal level has moved higher to 21,600 levels. RSI is overbought on hourly charts and other key technical indicators are poised for some consolidation from current levels. Highest call OI is at with 22,400 strike while on the downside the highest put OI has moved higher to 22,000 for the weekly expiry," said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

ICICI Bank Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. were added to positively to the index.

Infosys Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Hero MotorCorp Ltd., and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. capped gains to the index.

On NSE, nine out of 12 sectors were trading in positive, and three were trading in negative. The Nifty PSU Bank rose the most among sectoral indices, and the Nifty Media declined the most.

Broader markets were also trading higher on BSE. The S&P BSE Midcap index rose 0.24%, and the S&P BSE Smallcap gained 0.52%.

On BSE, 17 sectors out of 20 rose, and three fell. The S&P BSE Realty sector rose the most, and the S&P BSE TECK sector fell the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,013 stocks rose, 1,051 stocks declined, and 93 remained unchanged on BSE.

At pre-open, the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 51.90 points or 0.23% higher at 22,248.85, and the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 210.08 points or 0.29% higher at 73,267.48.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 7.05%.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency strengthened 6 paise to open at 82.91 against the U.S. Dollar.

• It closed at 82.97 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Campus Activewear Ltd had 40.7 lakh shares changed hands in a large pre-market trade.

• The company had 1.3% equity changed hands at Rs 245 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• Devyani International had 5.23 crore shares changed hands in a large pre-market trade.

• The company had 4.3% equity changed hands at Rs 164.1 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• Interest in India remains high

• Increased interest among Global ex-US funds as India’s weightage has gone up from 2% to ~5% in last 5yrs

• Investors view top-down India as attractive

• High valuations remains the key struggle leading to money staying on sidelines

• IT Sector Outlook - Improvement in FY25E is widely expected

• J.P. Morgan Chase & Co upgraded Hospitals to 'Overweight', and downgraded it to consumer Staples to neutral.

• Nifty 50's ex-financial revenue/PAT came at +5%/15%YoY

• Softer commodity prices with low energy and freight cost benefitted volume drive.

• Real estate, consumer discretionary had most beats

• Financials, IT had most misses

• Expects input cost benefit to taper

• The focus is to shift it to business strength and Balancesheet.

• U.S. Dollar Index at 104.04

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 4.29%

• Brent crude up 0.33% at $82.61 per barrel

• Nymex crude down 1.28% at $78.18 per barrel

• GIFT Nifty down 27.5 points or 0.12% at 22,251.00 as of 8:25 a.m

•  Bitcoin was up 0.16% at $52,118.66

• Nifty February futures up by 0.27% to 22,217.2 at a premium of 20.25 points.

• Nifty February futures open interest down by 3.4%.

• Nifty Bank February futures up by 1.26% to 47,188 a premium of 93.8 points.

• Nifty Bank February futures open interest down by 0.3%.

• Nifty Options Feb. 22 Expiry: Maximum Call open interest at 23,000 and Maximum Put open interest at 22,000.

• Bank Nifty Options Feb. 21 Expiry: Maximum Call Open Interest at 48,000 and Maximum Put open interest at 45,000.

• Securities in ban period: Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Biocon, Canara Bank, GMR Infra, GNFC, Hindustan Copper, India Cement, Indus Tower, National Aluminium, RBL Bank, Sail, Zee Entertainment Enterprise.

• Price band revised from 20% to 10%: Force Motors, Wockhardt.

• Ex/record Dividend: PI Industries, Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities, MRF, NCL Industries, SJVN, Saregama India, Cummins India, Electrosteel Castings, Uniparts India, JK Lakshmi Cement, Hero MotoCorp, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Sula Vineyards.

• Moved into short-term ASM framework: Aegis Logistics, Dilip Buildcon, HPL Electric & Power, Natco Pharma, Nuvama Wealth Management.

• Moved Out of short-term ASM framework: Sindhu Trade Links, Zuari Industries.

• Bank of Baroda: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26 and 27.

• Star Housing Finance: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 23.

• Titan: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 23.

• Windlas Biotech: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26.

• Sadhana Nitrochem: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 23.

• BLS International Services: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26.

• ICICI Bank: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 21.

• JSW Infra: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26 ,27, 28 and 29.

• Escorts Kubota: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26.

• Gandhar Oil: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 27.

• Quick Heal Technologies: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 23.

• Bharat Forge: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26.

• Castrol India: To meet analysts and investors on Feb. 26.

• NGL Fine-Chem: Promoter Sunita Potdar sold 20,000 shares on Feb. 19.

• Authum Investment and Infrastructure: Promoter Mentor Capital bought 1.5 lakh shares on Feb. 19.

• Coffee Day Enterprises: Promoter Malavika Hegde sold 98 lakh shares on Feb. 19.

• G N A Axles: Promoter Maninder Singh sold 1.06 lakh shares on Feb 15, Promoter Gursaran Singh bought 1.12 lakh shares on Feb 15.

• Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers: Promoter Zuari Agro Chemicals created a pledge of 1 lakh shares on Feb. 16.

• Apollo Micro Systems: Promoter Karunakar Reddy Baddam revoked a pledge of 62.50 lakh shares on Feb. 16.

• Tourism Finance Corp: Aditya Kumar Halwasiya bought 1.18 crore shares (13.05%) at Rs 209.75 apiece, Koppara Sajeeve Thomas sold 34.44 lakh shares (3.81%), Pansare Holdings PTE sold 42.56 lakh shares (4.7%), Varanium Capital Advisors sold 10.04 lakh shares (1.11%), Varanium India Opportunity sold 30.97 lakh shares (3.42%) at Rs 209.75 apiece.

• Jindal Saw: Eriska Investment Fund sold 23.5 lakh shares (0.73%), Nippon India Mutual Fund - Small Cap Fund bought 12 lakh shares (0.37%), Samco Mutual Fund bought 5.5 lakh shares (0.15%) at Rs 521 apiece.

• Whirlpool of India: Whirlpool Mauritius sold 3 crore shares (23.95%) at Rs 1,277.02 apiece, while SBI Mutual Fund bought 91.5 lakh shares (7.2%), Aditya Birla Sunlife Mutual Fund bought 8.88 lakh shares (0.7%), Societe Generale ODI bought 8.65 lakh shares (0.68%), Nippon India Mutual Fund bought 7.97 lakh shares (0.62%), DSP Mutual Fund bought 7.14 lakh shares (0.56%), ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 6.49 lakh shares (0.51%) at Rs 1,276.99 apiece.

• Shilpa Medicare: TA FII Investors sold 5 lakh shares (0.57%) at Rs 422.22 apiece.

• Juniper Hotels: The company will offer its shares for bidding on Wednesday. The price band is set from Rs 342 to Rs 360 per share apiece. The 1,800 crore IPO is completely a fresh issue. The company has raised Rs­­ 810 crore from anchor investors.

• Zee Entertainment Enterprises: SEBI has found, while investigating founders, that Rs 2,000 crore might have been diverted from the company, Bloomberg reported. As of now, the amount is not finalised, and the regulator is reaching out to senior officials to know their stance on it.

• Hindalco Industries: The company's wholly-owned American subsidiary, Novelis Inc., has filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Swan Energy: The Rs 4,000 crore QIP opened on Tuesday at a floor price of Rs 703.29 per share.

• Union Bank of India: The lender approved raising funds up to Rs 3,000 crore via QIP at a floor price of Rs 142.78 per share.

• Devyani International: Yum Restaurant India is likely to sell a 4.4% stake in Devyani International via block deals.

• DLF: The company unit has acquired land parcels in Gurugram, Haryana, for Rs 1,241 crore, enabling partial redemption of bonds for Rs 775 crore. The company’s unit has completed the registration and transfer of the first tranche of land parcels.

• Wipro: The IT major with IBM expanded its partnership to offer new AI services and support to clients.

• Zee Entertainment: The company clarified that it is not involved in any negotiations in relation to the Sony merger deal.

• GOCL: To meet the FDI limit of 74%, promoter Hinduja Capital, Mauritius, will be reducing their stake by 1% to 72.83% from 73.83% via bulk or block deal.

• Minda Corp: Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of an 8.8% stake in Pricol.

• Ashok Leyland: The company will set up a new integrated commercial vehicle plant focused on green mobility in Uttar Pradesh.

• NTPC: Unit NTPC Green Energy signed an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh government to develop a green hydrogen hub in Visakhapatnam, which includes the construction of a production facility for 1,200 tonne per day.

• Thermax: The company entered into a licence and technical assistance agreement with Flowtech Co., South Korea, to obtain technology to manufacture poly carboxylate ether products to strengthen its construction chemicals business portfolio. For the $300,000, 50% will be adjusted against royalty payments, and the balance will be a refundable deposit until the agreement period.

• Bondada Engineering: The company received a work order worth Rs 4.93 crore from Sundrops Energia to supply the equipment for the solar power plant.

• Medplus Health Services: A company unit received a suspension order from Drugs and Control authorities for suspending the operations of a store for two days.

• Varun Beverages: The company, through its unit, entered into an exclusive snack appointment agreement to manufacture and package 'Cheetos' in Morocco. The commencement of production from the company’s own manufacturing facility will be effective from May 1, 2025, with a capex of Rs 100 crore.

• ONGC: The board approved a JV for compressed biogas plants with a seed equity contribution worth up to Rs 10 crore.

• GR Infraprojects: The company’s arm, GR Tarakote Sanjichhat Ropeway, executed a concession pact with Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The estimated cost for the ropeway project is Rs 200 crore.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were trading in negative territory during early trade on Wednesday, taking cues from overnight losses on Wall Street.

The Nikkei 225 was trading 0.29% lower at 38,251.93, while the S&P ASX 200 was trading 0.71% down at 7,604.50 as of 6:21 a.m. Investors await the interest rate decision by Indonesia on Wednesday.

Big tech dragged the U.S. stock market away from its all-time highs, with Wall Street awaiting Nvidia Corp.’s earnings Wednesday for confirmation it can meet the sky-high expectations set by the artificial intelligence boom, according to Bloomberg.

The S&P 500 edged 0.60% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.92% on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 0.17% lower.

Brent crude was 1.46% down at $82.34 a barrel. Gold was lower by 0.03% at $2,023.76 an ounce.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 27.5 points or 0.12% lower at 22,251.00 as of 8:25 a.m

India’s benchmark stock indices ended higher for the sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, with the NSE Nifty 50 closing at an all-time high.

The Nifty ended 74.70 points, or 0.34%, higher at 22,196.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 349.24 points, or 0.48%, up at 73,057.40.

Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the second consecutive session on Tuesday.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 1,335.5 crore, while domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 1,491.3 crore, the NSE data showed.

The Indian rupee strengthened 5 paise to close at Rs 82.97 against the U.S. dollar.