The frontline equity barometers ended a volatile session with minor losses on Thursday, sliding for the fifth straight session. Trading was volatile on account of monthly options expiry. The Nifty settled below the 17,550 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,620.05 in morning trade.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23% to 59,605.80. The Nifty 50 index lost 43.05 points or 0.25% to 17,511.25.
The key equity benchmarks extended their losing streak for fifth consecutive session, during which the Sensex has fallen 2.79% while the Nifty has declined 2.91%.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.40% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.06%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,580 shares rose and 1,862 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 3.28% to 15.08.
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The minutes from the recent meetings of the Reserve Bank of India and the U.S. Federal Reserve revealed that they are willing to keep increasing the interest rates as inflation remains a concern.
Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index (up 0.53%), the Nifty Metal index (up 0.35%) and the Nifty FMCG index (up 0.26%) outperformed the benchmark Nifty 50 index.
The Nifty Realty index (down 1.78%), the Nifty Media index (down 1.77%) and the Nifty Consumer Durables index (down 0.88%) underperformed the benchmark Nifty 50 index.
Numbers to track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.391 from 7.429 in previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.7350, compared with its close of 82.88 during the previous trading session
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement fell 0.52% to Rs 55,789.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.03% to 104.61.
The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.61% to 3.947.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2023 settlement rose 46 cents or 0.57% to $81.06 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Zee Entertainment Enterprises fell 3.47%. The bankruptcy court admitted the company under an insolvency plea filed by a private sector lender, on grounds of default of over Rs 83 crore.
As per media reports, IndusInd Bank has claimed a default amount of Rs 83.08 crore or $10.04 million against the media company. Zee is reportedly a party to the debt service reserve account (DSRA) guarantee agreement entered into with the private bank for the term-loan facility advanced to another Essel Group firm, Siti Networks. Reports suggest that NCLT has appointed Sanjay Kumar Jhalani as the interim resolution professional. Hero MotoCorp shed 0.17%. The two-wheeler maker said that the company's mobility brand VIDA has initiated operations of its public charging infrastructure in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur. The brand has set up nearly 300 charging points at 50 locations across the three cities for public use. The charging network is spread across key locations, ensuring customer convenience.
Sonata Software jumped 5.43%. The company's wholly owned subsidiary Sonata Software North America Inc. announced the signing of definitive agreement for acquiring 100% stake in Quant Systems Inc. The acquisition has been done for an upfront payment of $65 million. Acquisition cost involves a deferred achievement-based earn-out / pay-outs upto a maximum of $95 million payable over 2 years and certain additional payments on achievement of additional targets.
Mahindra CIE Automotive rose 0.36%. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 657.81 crore in Q4 CY2022 as against a consolidated net profit of Rs 80.23 crore in Q4 CY2021. However, revenue from operations rose 34.6% year on year to Rs 2,246.84 crore in Q4 CY2022.
Biocon declined 1.01%. The company said that it has fulfilled its payment obligation and has fully redeemed the Commercial Papers (CPs) of Rs 2,250 crore.
HG Infra Engineering rose 0.47% after the company has been declared as lowest bidder (L-1) by Rail Vikas Nigam, Chandigarh for construction project in Himachal Pradesh. The company said its bid project cost is Rs 466.11 crore and construction period of project is 30 months.
Lemon Tree Hotels rose 1.64%. The company said that it has signed a license agreement for a 47-room property in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh under the company's brand 'Lemon Tree Hotel'. The property is expected to be operational by December 2023 and shall be managed by Carnation Hotels Private Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary and the management arm of Lemon Tree Hotels, the company said.
Ugro Capital advanced 3.55%. The NBFC announced that the investment and borrowing committee of the board will consider the proposal of fund raising on Saturday, 25 February 2023. The company added that the funds will be raised by way of issuance of non-convertible debentures and/or commercial papers through private placement basis.
Orient Cement rose 1.02%. The company on Wednesday announced that the non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that it had entered with Adani Power Maharashtra (APML) has been terminated. In September 2021, Orient Cement had entered into the non-binding MoU with APML for setting out the understanding for facilitating bona fide use of land identified for exploring the possibility of establishing a cement grinding unit (CGU) in Tiroda, Maharashtra.
Global Markets:
European markets mostly advanced while their most Asian peers declined on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve released the minutes of its most recent meeting that showed central bank members are still committed to fighting inflation with rate hikes.
The Japanese market is closed today for the Emperor's birthday.
Inflation remained well above the Fed's 2% target and the labor market remained very tight, contributing to continuing upward pressures on wages and prices, according to the minutes.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea held its interest rates at 3.5%, a first in nearly a year of rate hikes, and in line with expectations.
Wall Street ended broadly lower on Wednesday, with investors cautious despite the latest guidance on rate policy from the US central bank showing few surprises.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January 31-February 1 meeting said that "almost all" Fed officials agreed to slow the pace of increases in interest rates to a quarter of a percentage point.
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