Indian benchmark equity indices opened flat on on monthly F&O expiry amid mixed global market sentiment. The BSE Sensex fell 87.04 pts or 0.15% to 59,657.94 and NSE Nifty 50 plunged 20.45 pts or 0.12% to 17,533.85. The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India (up 0.90%), JSW Steel (up 0.71%), UPL (up 0.61%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.56%) and HCL Tech (up 0.54%) while Asian Paints (down 1.72%), Adani Enterprises (down 1.63%), Adani Ports (down 1.58%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.29%) and Bajaj Finserv (down 1.07%).
ZEEL, Biocon shares in focus today
Zee Entertainment Enterprises shares were locked in the lower circuit, falling 10% to Rs 185.35 after National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an insolvency petition against the company. The petition has been filed by IndusInd Bank, under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). This might pose a hurdle for ZEEL’s merger with Sony Pictures Networks.
Biocon shares fell 1.22% to Rs 219.45 on Thursday. Meanwhile, the biopharmaceutical company fulfilled its payment obligation and fully redeemed Commercial Papers of Rs 2,250 crore. Additionally, Kotak Special Situations Fund announced an investment of Rs 1,070 crore in Biocon.
Sectoral Indices
The sectoral indices were trading broadly in red. Bank Nifty fell 0.57%, Nifty Auto was down 0.53%, Nifty PSU Bank slipped 0.56%, Nifty Pharma was down 0.24% while Nifty IT was up 0.19%.
Asian and US stock markets
Asian markets were trading mixed with China’s Shanghai Composite index rising 0.40%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbing 0.18% and South Korea’s KOSPI advancing 1.09% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.34%.
The US stock market ended the overnight session mixed with Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.26%, S&P500 dropping 0.16% while Nasdaq rose 0.13%.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold net shares worth Rs 579.82 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) acquired equities worth Rs 371.56 crore on 22 February, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.
NSE F&O Ban
The National Stock Exchange has put Vodafone Idea on its F&O ban list for Thursday, 23 February. According to the NSE, stocks are prohibited in the F&O sector once they have exceeded 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL). During the F&O ban period, no new positions are permitted for F&O contracts in that stock.