Sensex Today Live: Indian benchmark indices were down on Tuesday, led by weak signals from global peers, along with marginally lower-than-expected Manufacturing PMI for March.
At 11 am, Sensex was down 244.52 points, or 0.33%, at 73,770.03, and Nifty was down 66.15 points, or 0.29%, at 22,395.85.
The manufacturing sector in India ended FY24 with a “stellar performance” in March, as per a private survey. The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI escalated to a 16-year peak of 59.1 in March, up from 56.9 in February. Companies increased hiring due to strong production and new orders. This score, the highest since February 2008, was slightly below HSBC’s initial estimate of 59.2. A PMI score above 50 indicates expansion rather than contraction. Manufacturing output in India increased for the 33rd successive month, with growth accelerating across consumer, intermediate, and investment goods sectors.
SpiceJet today informed the exchanges that it is poised to receive a Q400 aircraft secured from Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) as part of a settlement agreement inked last year. Under the agreement, which settles all past liabilities for the Q400s leased by NAC to SpiceJet, the airline has acquired full ownership of six Q400s. The airline already has five Q400 aircraft which were earlier owned by NAC. The ownership of these planes has been transferred to SpiceJet. The timely arrival of the Q400 aircraft aligns with the upcoming summer schedule, enabling the airline to offer seamless connectivity and enhanced services to passengers during peak travel seasons. SpiceJet has recently announced four major settlements with key aircraft lessors, resulting in substantial savings of INR 1,252 Crore for the airline.
RBL Bank today informed the exchanges about a slew of changes to some of its senior management roles. In an exchange filing, the company said it has appointed Parag Kale, currently Business Head – Secured Business, as the Chief Credit Officer – Retail & Head-Retail Collections. The company added that it has appointed Kamal Sabhlok as Head, Secured and Micro-Finance Business & Credit Card Collections. He was serving as the Chief Credit Officer – Retail, before his current role. RBL Bank further stated in an exchange filing that it has appointed Sujit Ghalsasi, currently serving as the Head of Rural Vehicle Finance, to the role of Head, Vehicle Finance.
BASF India today informed the exchanges that it has entered into a 25-year long-term power purchase agreement with Clean Renewable Energy KK 2C Pvt. Ltd., a special purpose vehicle incorporated by Hero Rooftop Energy Pvt. Ltd., for procurement of 2.7 MW of renewable power for its manufacturing facility in Mangalore. In an exchange filing, the company said, “In order to avail the benefit available to the captive users under the Applicable Laws, the Company will hold 26% equity share capital of Clean Renewable Energy KK 2C Private Limited as required under the Applicable Laws for an amount not exceeding Rs.1.5 crores. Accordingly, the Company, Clean Renewable Energy KK 2C Private Limited and Hero Rooftop Energy Private Limited have signed a Share Subscription and Shareholder Agreement on 2nd April, 2024. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary conditions precedent including receipt of requisite approvals”.
Tata Technologies today informed the exchanges that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with BMW Holding B.V., Netherlands. The joint venture will aid BMW Group in engineering premium products, delivering great digital experiences for its customers and propelling its digital transformation journey. The focus will be on delivering automotive software, including software-defined vehicle (SDV) solutions for its premium vehicles and digital transformation solutions for business IT.
South Indian Bank shares were down 4% after the bank gave a business update for Q4FY24. The bank’s gross advances rose to ₹80,337 crore, up from ₹77,786 crore in the previous quarter. The bank also saw an increase in total deposits, which reached ₹1.02 lakh crore, compared to ₹99,155 crore in the previous quarter. The bank’s Current Account Savings Account (CASA) demonstrated a positive trend, with an 8% increase to ₹32,654 crore from ₹31,529 crore in the previous quarter. The bank added a note stating that the above data is provisional and subject to an audit by the bank’s statutory auditors.
SBI Research gave an update before the MPC meeting on April 3-5. The report highlighted that future values of emerging economy rates are influenced by past values of advanced economy rates. Inflation is currently being driven by food price dynamics, with CPI inflation expected to remain slightly above 5.0% in the remaining month of FY24. Deposit and credit growth are expected to pick up in FY25.
Overall, the Indian stock market is expected to open on a positive note, following firm Asian peers and positive trends in the Gift Nifty. Investors will be closely watching the developments in various sectors and the impact of global factors on the market throughout the day.
