The domestic equity barometers ended with minimal gains on Monday, snapping a two-day losing run. The Nifty 50 index opened higher at 16,984.30 and hit the day's high of 17,091 in mid-afternoon trade. However, selling in the final hour of the session dragged the index below 17,000 mark. Healthcare, pharma and FMCG shares were in demand. On the other hand, realty, media and auto shares were under pressure. The undertone of the market continued to be weak amid absence of domestic market triggers this week. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 126.76 points or 0.22% to 57,653.86. The Nifty 50 index added 40.65 points or 0.24% to 16,985.70. In the past two trading sessions, the Sensex fell 0.96% while the Nifty slipped 1.21%. The broader market witnessed selling. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.37% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.50%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 919 shares rose, and 2,718 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.319 from 7.318 in previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.3775, compared with its close of 82.40 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement fell 0.98% to Rs 58,693.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.01% to 103.11.

The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 2.38% to 3.458.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2023 settlement rose 67 cents or 0.89% to $75.66 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The Does Jones index futures were up 211 points, indicating a positive opening in the US market.

European shares advanced while most Asian stocks declined on Monday as investors continued to assess the impact of the banking troubles in the U.S and Europe on the global economy.

In the U.S. early on Monday, First Citizens Bank agreed to buy large parts of Silicon Valley Bank, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said. However, investors remained on high alert for signs of stresses in the banking system, while fears of contagion remain.

The deal includes the purchase of approximately $72 billion of SVB assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, but around $90 billion in securities and other assets will remain "in receivership for disposition by the FDIC."

Last Friday, Deutsche Bank shares saw a sell-off after the German lender's credit default swaps jumped. The stock was up 3.2% in mid-morning trade on Monday.

Over the weekend, International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech that risks to financial stability have increased, though actions by advanced economies have calmed market stress.

US stocks closed higher on Friday, marking the end of a tumultuous week as Federal Reserve officials calmed investor fears over a potential liquidity crisis in the banking sector.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Industries (RIL) advanced 1.54%. RIL said on Friday that its board has designated Srikanth Venkatachari, joint chief financial officer, as chief financial officer (CFO) of the company with effect from 1 June 2023. The current CFO, Alok Agarwal, will assume a new role as senior advisor to the chairman and managing director of the company assisting him on a wide range of strategic issues with effect from 1 June 2023, after 30 years of service.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 1.15%. The drug major announced that it is set to acquire 60% shareholding in Vivaldis Health & Foods for Rs 143.30 crore from its existing shareholders. The remaining 40% shareholding will be acquired in future as per certain terms and conditions, said Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries in its regulatory filing. It will be a cash transaction and is expected to be completed by May 2023.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals rose 1.15% while Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances slipped 3.72%. Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals and Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances have announced a merger to accelerate and smoothen the realisation of synergies of the combined business. Both are listed companies and the merger will take place through shares swap.

Upon Merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly as on the record date will receive 22 equity shares of Crompton for every 5 equity shares held by them in Butterfly, as a consideration for the merger. Post-merger, the public shareholders of Butterfly will hold around 3% stake in the combined entity.

Morepen Laboratories surged 8.06% after the company announced successful completion of US drug regulator's inspection of API manufacturing facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. USFDA cleared the facility on 24 March 2023 without any adverse observation (zero 483).

Tata Steel added 0.15%. The company announced on Friday that it acquired 4,65,116 equity shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services (TSUISL), on rights basis amounting to Rs 10 crore. TSUISL allotted the shares to Tata Steel at Rs 215 each.

L&T Finance Holdings shed 0.78%. The NBFC said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved merger of subsidiaries L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and L&T Mutual Fund Trustee with L&T Finance Holdings.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) lost 0.44%. The company on Monday announced that its power transmission & distribution business has secured ‘large' orders in India and overseas. As per L&T classification, the value of the large project is Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Bharat Electronics (BEL) rose 0.36%. BEL announced that it has bagged orders worth Rs 4,300 crore from Indian Army and Indian Navy.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) declined 3.22%. IOB said that it has raised Rs 1,000 crore via issue of 1,000 unsecured, non-convertible, listed, redeemable, Basel-III compliant tier-II bonds through private placement basis.

Dalmia Bharat rose 2.19%. The company said its material wholly owned subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), entered into binding agreement to sell its entire stake of 42.36% of Dalmia Bharat Refractories (DBRL) to Sarvapriya Healthcare Solutions for a consideration of Rs 800 crore. The said transaction will be completed on or before 25 April 2023.

ISGEC Heavy Engineering fell 2.73%. The company received order worth Rs 197.25 crore from Maharashtra State Power Generation (MAHAGENCO) for renovation of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) at Chandrapur thermal power, Maharashtra.