Domestic benchmark indices corrected on Thursday, after gaining for two straight sessions. The Nifty held above the 18,100 level. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE. Global cues were negative after disappointing US data renewed worries about a recession in the world's biggest economy.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 187.31 points or 0.31% to 60,858.43. The Nifty 50 index lost 57.50 points or 0.32% to 18,107.85.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.06% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.24%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,582 shares rose, and 1,929 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 2.87% to 13.96.
Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, the Nifty Oil and Gas index (up 0.46%), the Nifty PSU Bank index (up 0.33%) and the Nifty IT index (up 0.05%) outperformed the Nifty50 index.
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Meanwhile, the Nifty Media index (down 1.00%), the Nifty FMCG index (down 0.86%) and the Nifty Consumer Durables index (down 0.63%) underperformed the Nifty50 index.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.314 from its close of 7.325 recorded in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.38, compared with its close of 81.30 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement advanced 0.02% to Rs 56,295.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.13% to 102.23.
The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.54% to 3.357.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2023 settlement declined 0.70 cents or 0.82% to $84.28 a barrel.
Global Markets:
The Dow Jones index futures were down 193 points, indicating a weak opening in the US stocks today.
Markets in Europe tumbled while Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday after tracking losses on Wall Street overnight.
US stocks dropped sharply on Wednesday, their biggest daily drops in more than a month, after weak economic data fueled recession worries while hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials soured investor moods further.
Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said Wednesday that interest rates have to keep moving higher even with recent inflation readings softening.
As per reports, the policymaker said the Fed likely will have to take its benchmark interest rate above 5% in order to get inflation moving consistently down to the central bank's 2% goal. She noted that markets and the economy absorbed the half-point December rate hike without a problem.
US retail sales fell by the most in a year in December. Retail sales plummeted 1.1% last month, the biggest drop since December 2021. Data for November was revised to show sales decreasing 1% instead of 0.6% as previously reported. Retail sales rose 6% year-on-year in December.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell 1.36%. The FMCG major reported 12% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,505 crore on a 16% increase in turnover to Rs 14,986 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. It delivered underlying volume growth of 5%. Growth was significantly ahead of the market with more than 75% of the business winning value and volume market shares.
During the quarter, the company saw inflation moderating, albeit remaining high YoY. EBITDA margin at 23.6% improved 30 bps versus SQ'22 and declined 180 bps YoY. PAT (bei) was up 13% YoY, PAT at Rs 2,505 crores was up 12% YoY.
Asian Paints slipped 2.64%. The paint major's consolidated net profit rose 5.61% to Rs 1,072.67 crore on 1.72% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 8,607.50 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.
Persistent Systems jumped 7.47% after the company reported 8.2% rise in net profit to Rs 237.95 crore on a 5.9% increase in revenue to Rs 2,169.37 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY23. Gross profit during the period under review was Rs 733.36 crore, up 6.9% QoQ. While EBITDA rose by 9.1% QoQ to Rs 401.56 crore, EBITDA margin improved by 50 bps QoQ to 18.5% in Q3 FY23.
In dollar terms, the company's revenue in Q3 FY23 was $264.35 million. Services revenue was $242.65 million (up 3% QoQ) and IP led revenue was $21.70 million (up 8.6% QoQ). The order booking for the quarter ended on 31 December 2022, was at $440.2 million in total contract value (TCV) and at $326.3 million in annual contract value (ACV) terms.
Polycab India gained 2.79% after the company's consolidated net profit (from continuing operations) jumped 45.28% to Rs 360.83 crore on 10.18% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 3,715.18 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. The company said that it witnessed growth in the revenue in spite of high base, lower commodity prices and higher inflation on the back of healthy volume growth in cables & wires business.
Havells India rose 0.33%. The company reported 7% drop in standalone net profit to Rs 284 crore on a 13% increase in net revenue to Rs 4,120 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. Revenue of Switchgears was Rs 514 crore (up 3.7% YoY), Cable business revenue was Rs 1,412 crore (up 17.1% YoY), Lighting & Fixtures revenue was Rs 420 crore (up 3% YoY), revenue from Electrical Consumer Durables was Rs 935 crore (up 4.7% YoY) and Other revenue was Rs 232 crore (up 25.9% YoY) during the period under review.
Rallis India dropped 8.82% after the company reported 43% decline in net profit to Rs 22.55 crore in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 39.55 crore posted in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations rose marginally to Rs 630.39 crore in quarter ended 31 December 2022 from Rs 628.08 crore recorded in Q3 FY22.
Adani Enterprises tumbled 3.72%. The company said it will offer Rs 20,000 crore worth of shares in a price band of Rs 3,112 to Rs 3,276 each through a follow-on public offer (FPO). The FPO is slated to open on 27 January 2023 and close on 31 January 2023. The floor price is at a discount of 13.44% to Wednesday's Rs 3,595.35 closing price of the stock on BSE.
The FPO committee of the board of directors of the company, at its meeting held on 18 January 2023, approved a discount of Rs 64 per FPO equity share for retail individual investors bidding in the retail portion of the offer.
Mahindra Lifespace Developers rose 5.27% after the company said it has been selected as the preferred partner to redevelop two adjacent residential societies in Santacruz West, one of the prime residential neighbourhoods in Mumbai. The project will offer Mahindra Lifespaces a revenue potential of around Rs 500 crore.
Vedanta advanced 2.04%. The mineral and metal miner said that it will acquire the debt-laden power company, Meenakshi Energy for a total cash consideration of Rs 1,140 crore.
IndusInd Bank slipped 1.89%. The private lender's standalone net profit surged 68.71% to Rs 1,959.20 crore on 19.96% rise in total income to Rs 11,533.74 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. IndusInd Bank's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 1,963.64 crore in quarter ended 31 December 2022 as compared to Rs 1,241.55 core posted in Q3 FY22, registering a growth of 58.16%. Consolidated total income rose by 19.96% year on year to Rs 11,533.89 crore during the period under review.
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