The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with minor gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,050 mark after hitting the day’s low of 21,916.55 in mid-morning trade. Metal, media and auto shares advanced while IT, consumer durables and FMCG stocks corrected.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 168.26 points or 0.23% to 72,811.69. The Nifty 50 index rose 46.10 or 0.21% to 22,069.45.

The broader market underperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.09% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.13%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,956 shares rose and 1,875 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Steel (up 4.98%), JSW Steel (up 3.09%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.76%), Bajaj Auto (up 1.99%) and Coal India (up 1.72%) were major Nifty gainers.

UPL (down 2%), Tata Consumer Products (down 1.95%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 1.68%), Titan Company (down 1.64%) and SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.07%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ITC fell 0.37% and International Travel House declined 0.91%. ITC has entered into a share purchase agreement with its wholly owned subsidiary, Russell Credit, for acquisition of 36,26,633 equity shares of Rs 10 each of International Travel House (ITHL), a listed associate company, representing 45.36% of ITHL’s share capital, and 90,000 equity shares of Rs 100 each of Maharaja Heritage Resorts (MHRL), an unlisted joint venture company, representing 25% of MHRL’s share capital.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) advanced 0.36% after the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the company for Mid Life Upgrade (MLU) of 25 Dornier Aircraft along with associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,890 crore.

Torrent Power gained 3.82% after receiving letter of award from the company’s distribution unit for setting up of 300 MW (RE Power) grid-connected wind solar hybrid projects.

KPI Green Energy was locked in upper circuit of 5% after it emerged as the successful bidder in the Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. (MAHAGENCO) tender for development of 100MW solar power project.

The Anup Engineering soared 16.32% after the company announced that its board will consider bonus share issue on Wednesday, 20 March 2024. Meanwhile, the company has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire 100% equity shares of Mabel Engineering (Mabel), for a cash consideration of Rs 33 crore.

Global Markets:

Most of the European shares declined while Asian stocks advanced on Monday, ahead of key central bank policy decisions due this week for clues into the future global interest rate trajectory.

The Bank of Japan's rate decision is scheduled for Tuesday, while Federal Reserve is due to announce its rate decision on Wednesday.

China reported stronger-than-expected numbers for retail and fixed asset investment for the first two months of 2024. Retail sales rose 5.5% and industrial production was up 7%. The unemployment rate for cities was 5.3% in February.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, led by technology-related megacaps, while investors weighed the interest rate outlook ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.