Domestic equity barometers ended a volatile session near the flat line on Monday. The Nifty closed above the 18,650 mark after hitting the day's low of 18,646.70 in afternoon trade. Pharma, healthcare and auto stocks rallied. On the other hand, PSU Bank and oil & gas shares declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 9.37 points or 0.01% to 62,970. The Nifty 50 index added 25.70 points or 0.14% to 18,691.20.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.71%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,858 shares rose and 1,788 shares fell. A total of 172 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 1.42% to 11.40.

Investor sentiment remained weak as the recent interest rate hike by the BoE and the US Fed hinting at two more rate hikes this year coupled with mounting Chinese growth fears and the political turmoil in Russia point towards a challenging environment for global economic recovery.

Economy:

The Government directed Food Corporation of India to conduct e-auctions of wheat and rice to check the inflationary trends in prevailing retail prices as a part of market intervention to control the price of wheat and rice.

Sustained inflation forecasts below 5% will give the opportunity to cut interest rates since then the real repo rate would approach 2%, RBI MPC's external member Ashima Goyal has reportedly said, adding that real repo rate should not exceed 1.5%.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 2.4 billion to USD 596.1 billion in the week ended 16 June 2023.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Ideaforge Technology received bids for 1.15 crore shares as against 46.48 lakh shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:21 IST on Monday (26 June 2023). The issue was subscribed 2.49 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Monday (26 June 2023) and it will close on Thursday (29 June 2023). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 638 -672 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 22 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.53% to 13,388.60. The index added 1.68% in two trading sessions.

Gland Pharma (up 4.3%), Cipla (up 3.38%), Laurus Labs (up 3.24%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 3.2%), Natco Pharma (up 2.99%), Divis Laboratories (up 2%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.97%), Sanofi India (up 1.91%), Lupin (up 1.86%) and Ipca Laboratories (up 1.84%) advanced.

Ajanta Pharma rose 1.12% after US Food and Drug Adminstration (USFDA) issued zero observations for the company's Dahej Facility. The USFDA inspected the facility from 19 June 2023 to 23 June 2023. At the end of inspection, no form 483 was issued to the company's facility.

Ipca Laboratories gained 1.84%. The pharmaceutical company on Friday announced that the US drug regulator has issued Form 483, with eight observations after inspecting its Pithampur manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Zydus Lifesciences rose 0.79%. Zydus Animal Health and Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences to acquire 6.5% stake in Mylab Discovery Solutions at a consideration of Rs 106 crore.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shree Cement tumbled 5.59%. The media reports stated that the company has been found to have allegedly evaded Rs 23,000 crore in taxes.

In an exchange filing the company said, ?We have gathered that a lot of negative information about the company and its officials is floating in certain sections of the media in connection with the above survey. We would like to clarify that the survey is still going on. The entire management team of the company is available and extending full cooperation to the officials. Any information circulating in the media otherwise is incorrect and has been published without seeking prior inputs from the company.?

HDFC Life Insurance Company rose 0.65%. The life insurer has received a demand notice from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Mumbai Zonal Unit (the authority) of more than Rs 942.18 crore for non-payment of GST. The company said that it has received a show cause cum demand notice from the authority asking the company to show cause why a tax of Rs 942.18 crore pertaining to the period July 2017 to FY 2022, should not be demanded from the company.

ICICI Securities jumped 11.08% while ICICI Bank gained 0.38% . The board of ICICI Bank will meet on 29 June 2023 to consider a proposal for delisting of equity shares of ICICI Securities pursuant to a Scheme of Arrangement with ICICI Bank, listed holding company.

Infosys added 0.42%. The IT major said that it has signed a strategic collaboration with Danske Bank, a leading Nordic Bank, to accelerate the bank's digital transformation initiatives. As part of this collaboration, Infosys will also acquire Danske Bank's IT center in India, where over 1,400 professionals are employed. With its global expertise and industry-solutions, Infosys will accelerate the bank's digital agenda by significantly enhancing their IT operations and capabilities.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.55%. The EPC major said that its Power Transmission & Distribution Business of L&T Construction has secured significant new orders in India and abroad. As per L&T's classification, the value of the orders lies between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore.

Kotak Mahindra Bank lost 0.42%. The private lender on Friday announced that it has allotted 1,89,500 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) having a face value of Rs 1 lakh each aggregating to Rs 1,895 crore, on private placement basis.

Asian Paints rose 0.25%. The company has acquired further 11% of the equity share capital of White Teak for a consideration of Rs. 54 crores (approx.) from the promoters of White Teak. Asian Paints now holds 60% of equity share capital of White Teak, by virtue of which White Teak has become a subsidiary of the company.

Grasim Industries gained 0.63%. The company announced that the finance committee of its board approved the issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) for an amount not exceeding Rs 2,000 crore. The issuance of debentures will be done on private placement basis, in one or more tranches.

Capacite Infraprojects surged 6.93 % after the company received order worth Rs 452.50 crore from a private sector client for construction of residential & commercial tower in National Capital Region (NCR).

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe and Asia traded mostly in the red on Monday as the potential for drawn-out monetary tightening cycles hitting global growth as well as the weekend's political turmoil in Russia boosted risk aversion.

A failed mutiny by Russian mercenaries over the weekend raised concerns about political instability in Russia and the potential impact on oil supply from one of the world's largest producers.

The consumer price inflation showed some signs of cooling in Japan as the country's CPI eased to 3.2% y-o-y in May, lower than forecasts of 4.1%, while core CPI rose 3.2% y-o-y in May, beating estimates of a 3.1% rise.

US stocks closed lower on Friday, capping a week dominated by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony in which he signaled more interest rate hikes ahead but vowed the central bank would proceed with caution.

Two more US rate hikes this year is a ?very reasonable? projection, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly has reportedly said, adding that it is better to move slowly and carefully given how fast rates have already risen.

Meanwhile, the US flash manufacturing PMI dropping to 46.3 in June from 48.4 in May. The services sector however remained in the expansionary zone at 54.1 in June, albeit easing from 54.9 in the previous month.

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