The key equity benchmarks ended with modest losses on Friday. The Nifty closed a tad above the 17,150 level. While most sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red, realty, oil & gas and PSU banks advanced.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 233.48 points or 0.41% to 57,362.20. The Nifty 50 index lost 69.75 points or 0.40% to 17,153.
Tech Mahindra (down 2.35%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.79%), Nestle India (down 1.24%) and Wipro (down 1.18%) were major drags.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.36% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.33%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, shares 1,256 rose and 2,158 shares fell. A total of 96 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
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India's projected economic growth for 2022 has been downgraded by over 2% to 4.6% by the United Nations, a decrease attributed to the ongoing war in Ukraine, with New Delhi expected to face restraints on energy access and prices, reflexes from trade sanctions, food inflation, tightening policies and financial instability, according to a UN report released on Thursday.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report downgraded its global economic growth projection for 2022 to 2.6% from 3.6% due to shocks from the Ukraine war and changes in macroeconomic policies that put developing countries particularly at risk. The report said while Russia will experience a deep recession this year, significant slowdowns in growth are expected in parts of Western Europe and Central, South and South-East Asia.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.814% as compared with 6.834% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 76.22, compared with its close of 76.33 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement fell 0.22% to Rs 51,966.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, declined 0.13% to 98.66.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2022 settlement rose 8 cents at $119.11 a barrel. The contract fell $2.57 or 2.11% to settle at $119.03 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
European shares advanced while Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday.
Global markets have been tracking negotiations over Russia's invasion of Ukraine closely, and Thursday saw a host of high-level meetings between world leaders and international bodies.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that NATO would respond in kind if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. The president spoke after a marathon of summit meetings with the European Union, G-7 partners and NATO allies. Biden also said he would support an effort to expel Russia from the G-20 group of economies.
Buzzing Segment:
The Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 1.96% to 27,017.50. The index has fallen 3.54% in two sessions.
Rajesh Exports (down 3.48%), Titan Company (down 3.38%), Voltas (down 2.14%), Kajaria Ceramics (down 2.01%), Whirlpool of India (down 1.87%) and Dixon Technologies (India) (down 1.11%) tumbled.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Bharti Airtel advanced 0.42%. The telecom company on Friday announced that it has paid Rs 8,815 crore to the Department of Telecom (Government of India) towards part prepayment of deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in auction of year 2015. The prepayment is for instalments due in FY 2027 and FY 2028.
In the past four months, Bharti Airtel has settled Rs 24,334 crore of its deferred spectrum liabilities much ahead of scheduled maturities. These liabilities carried an interest rate of 10% and have been paid off through a combination of strong free cash generated by business, equity proceeds and significantly lower cost debt of similar tenor.
Motherson Sumi Systems rose 2.49%. The company announced that it has won an order from Boeing to manufacture and supply aftermarket molded polymer parts for commercial airplane interiors. This is the first order for Motherson from Boeing. The order will commence from Q3 FY23 and will be produced in a Motherson plant situated in Noida, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.
Zen Technologies rose 4.93%. The company has received a Project Sanction Order (PSO) from the Indian Army for design and development of prototype of Integrated Air Defence Combat Simulator (IADCS). The prototype is to be made ready for User Trial Readiness Review (UTRR) within a period of 30 weeks.
Tata Consumer Products fell 0.80%. The company's board will meet on 29 March 2022 to consider raising funds via preferential share sale. The Tata Group firm plans to issue preferential shares equivalent to 1.5% of its paid-up equity capital to a foreign buyer, it said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.
Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) rose 1.52% after the market regulator Sebi allowed exchanges having a commodity derivative segment to facilitate trading in options on commodity indices. Exchanges will have to seek a prior approval from the market regulator for allowing the same, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular on Thursday. The move is part of efforts to have more products in the commodity derivatives market.
Atul rose 2.30% to Rs 10,112.10. The company announced buyback of shares worth up to Rs 70 crore from shareholders, excluding promoters. The buyback of shares will be at a price not exceeding Rs 11,000 per equity share through the open market route. Atul's promoters held 45.04% stake as on 18 March 2022.
Vikram Thermo (India) jumped 6.32% after the company said its board will consider bonus share issue on 1 April 2022.
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