Asian stocks were trading higher early Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street buoyed by US retail sales data that eased recession concerns, and renewed optimism for China’s economy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.25%, while Australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.88%. Futures showed Hong Kong’s benchmark may also open higher.

In the US, the S&P 500 ended 0.44% higher while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.85%. The Nasdaq gained 0.3%.

India’s benchmark equity indices ended higher on Monday, following a jump in global markets. The Nifty and Sensex snapped a two-day decline from the previous week.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 111.55 points, or 0.5% higher at 22,508.75, while the BSE Sensex added 341 points or 0.46% to close up at 74,169.95.

Foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the 17th straight session on Monday as they offloaded stocks worth Rs 4,488.5 crore. Domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers for the 27th straight session as they net bought equities worth Rs 6,000.6 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Stocks To Watch

  • Bajaj Finserv: Allianz SE has signed binding agreements to sell its 26% stake in Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. to Bajaj Group for approximately €2.6 billion.

  • Religare Enterprises: The board initiated a governance review of REL and its subsidiaries, Religare Finvest and Religare Housing Development Finance.

  • Vedanta: Chairman Anil Agarwal stated that each of the company’s four demerged entities has the potential to become a $100 billion enterprise.

  • IndusInd Bank: Moody’s has affirmed the bank’s rating while placing its Baseline Credit Assessment under review for a possible downgrade.

  • Ircon International: The joint venture secured letters of award worth Rs 1,096 crore from the Meghalaya government.

  • PC Jeweller: The company will allot 51.7 crore shares to consortium lenders via preferential issue to settle Rs 1,510 crore debt.

  • Coffee Day Enterprises: The company will settle Rs 205 crore outstanding debt in three tranches.

  • Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency: The company will enhance its borrowing programme for fiscal 2025 by Rs 5,000 crore.

  • Suryoday Small Finance Bank: Chief Executive Officer Baskar Babu Ramachandran has acquired 1.5 crore shares, increasing the total promoter group’s holding in the bank from 22.3% to 22.44%.

  • Rites: The company has received a revised order for $10.8 million for additional supply and commissioning of electric locomotives.

  • NBCC: The company received an order of Rs 44.62 crore from Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialisation, Wardha.

  • Aditya Birla Real Estate: The firm’s arm Birla Estates debuted in Pune with a luxury residential project.

  • Shilpa Medicare: The company’s arm Shilpa Biologicals inked a pact for development, manufacture and sale of a new biological entity.

  • Unicommerce Solutions: The firm will consider security issuance via qualified institutional placement or other means on Thursday.

  • JM Financial: The company approved transfer of Private Wealth business to arm JM Financial Services.

  • Gopal Snacks: The company appointed Rigan Hasmukhrai Raithatha as chief financial officer.

  • LIC: The company appointed Shatmanyu Shrivastava as chief risk officer effective March 19.

  • Star Cement: The arm declared as preferred bidder for composite licence of Boro Hundong Limestone Block in Assam.

  • Morepen Laboratories: The company launched Empamore to offer high-quality treatment of Diabetes Mellitus at an affordable price point.

  • Bank of Maharashtra: The company received the Securities And Exchange Board Of India’s administrative warning letter, reporting no impact on financials or other operations.

  • Triveni Engineering: The firm reported an incident of explosion at CO2 sugar plant in Uttar Pradesh. The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Business operations on premises are not affected.

  • JSW Neo Energy: Approved acquisition of O2 Power Midco Holdings & O2 Energy.

  • Tata Motors: Incorporates wholly owned subsidiary Tata Motors Digital.AI Labs.

  • Lemon Tree Hotels: The firm signed a licence agreement for a 50-room hotel in Bokaro.

Bulk Deals 

  • SpiceJet: Ajay Singh sold 2 crore shares at Rs 45 apiece, Plutus Wealth Management LLP bought 75 lakh shares.

Insider Trade

  • Texmaco Infrastructure & Holdings: Promoter Adventz Finance bought 1,10,000 shares on March 12.

  • Sunteck Realty: Promoter Eskay Infrastructure Development Pvt. bought 13,454 shares.

  • Time Technoplast: Promoter Time Securities Services bought 50,000 shares on March 17.

  • Paisalo Digital: Promoter Equilibrated Venture Cflow bought 5.4 lakh shares on March 17.

  • Transindia Real Estate: Promoter Shashikiran Shetty bought 4.34 lakh shares on March 12.

Trading Tweaks

  • Price band changes from 10% to 5%: M K Proteins, Senco Gold,

  • Price band changes from 20% to 10%: NACL Industries.

  • Ex/ dividend: Castrol India.

  • Stocks in ST ASM 1: NACL Industries, Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals.

  • Stocks in ST ASM 2: Craftsman Automation.

F&O Cues 

The Nifty March futures were up 0.65% to 22,584.30 at a premium of 75.55 points, with the open interest down 2.04%.

The open interest distribution for the Nifty 50 March 20 expiry series indicated most activity at 23,500 call strikes, and the 22,000 put strikes had the maximum open interest.

Currency Update

The rupee strengthened sharply against the US dollar on Monday as India’s back-to-back strong economic data continued to fuel investors.

The domestic unit ended 20 paise higher at 86.80 against the greenback, the highest close since Feb. 24. Intraday, the rupee rose 24 paise to 86.76, according to Bloomberg data.

. Read more on Markets by NDTV Profit.The NSE Nifty 50 ended 111.55 points or 0.5% higher at 22,508.75, while the BSE Sensex closed 341.04 points or 0.46% up at 74,169.95 on Monday.  Read MoreMarkets, Notifications, Business 

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