The headline equity indices pared most of the losses and ended with significant cuts on Thursday. Trading was volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE today. The Nifty closed below the key 18,000 level after hitting the day's high of 18,120.30 in morning trade. Investors were worried as the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's December monetary policy reinforced expectations that the US central bank is likely to continue raising interest rates going forward.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 304.18 points or 0.50% to 60,353.27. The Nifty 50 index lost 50.80 points or 0.28% to 17,992.15.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.33% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.01%. The market breadth was negative.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.41% to 14.98.
Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, the Nifty FMCG index (up 1.55%), the Nifty Oil & Gas index (up 1.46%) and the Nifty Auto index (up 1.16%) outperformed the Nifty50 index. Meanwhile, the Nifty Financial Services index (down 1.18%), the Nifty Private Bank index (down 0.79%) and the Nifty Bank index (down 0.81%) underperformed the Nifty50 index.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe traded mixed while Asian stocks advanced on Thursday.
Global markets focus on economic data from the region, and the latest signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve on inflation and interest rates.
The Caixin China general services purchasing manager's index showed easing of pressure on the sector for the month of December, with a reading of 48, maintaining in contraction territory. The print rose from seeing a six-month low in the previous month with a reading of 46.7.
Meanwhile, investor sentiment in the European region was upbeat after the recently released inflation data from France and Germany indicated that consumer price increases across the euro zone are slowing.
US stocks snapped a two-day losing streak as Fed minutes released Wednesday from the December meeting showed higher interest rates are to remain as long as inflation stays high.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its Dec. 13-14 meeting, which showed central bank officials expect rates to be higher for some time. In view of the persistent and unacceptably high level of inflation, several participants commented that historical experience cautioned against prematurely loosening monetary policy.
US manufacturing contracted further in December. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Wednesday that its manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.4 last month from 49.0 in November, contracting for a second straight month.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.327 from its close of 7.321 recorded in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.45, compared with its close of 82.8250 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement declined 0.30% to Rs 55,599.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% 104.22.
The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.04% to 3.711.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2023 settlement advanced $1.73 or 2.22% to $79.57 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Bajaj Finance slumped 7.21 %. The NBFC said that new loans booked by the company during Q3 FY23 stood at 7.8 million, up by 5.4% as compared with the same period last year. The company had booked 7.4 million loans in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) advanced 1.75%. HUL has completed the acquisition of 19.8% shareholding of Nutritionalab, for a total consideration of Rs 70 crore in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Definitive Agreements dated 8 December 2022.
Godrej Consumer Products advanced 3.24%. The FMCG company said that despite the demand softness in India, it expects to deliver double-digit sales growth backed by low single-digit volume growth in Q3 FY23.
Marico gained 1.87% after the FMCG major said that its India business marked a slight improvement over the preceding quarter to post a mid-single-digit volume growth in Q3 FY23.
NTPC added 1.98%. The PSU company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Green Energy (NGEL) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for development of renewable energy based power projects.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose 1.21% after the company said that it had handled approximately 25.1 MMT of total cargo in December 2022, recording a growth of 8% in container volumes. The handled cargo volumes are marginally lower as compared with 25.3 MMT of total cargo handled in November 2022.
Tata Motors advanced 0.32%. Total Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) registrations in UK declined by 12.5% to 3,501 units in December 2022 from 4,002 units in December 2021. While Jaguar registrations dropped by 32% to 909 units, Land Rover registrations fell by 3% to 2,592 units in December 2022 over December 2021.
Lupin rose 1.34%. The drug major announced that it has launched a novel fixed-dose triple drug combination (FDC) of Indacaterol, Glycopyrronium and Mometasone for managing inadequately controlled asthma amongst patients, under the brand name Difizma in India.
IRB Infrastructure Developers slipped 3.75%. The company's board has approved the proposal for sub-division of existing equity share of the company from 1 equity share having face value of Rs 10 each, fully paid-up into 10 equity shares having face value of Re 1 each fully paid-up, subject to the approval of shareholders of the company. The record date for the will be intimated in due course, said the company.
Poonawalla Fincorp declined 1.93%. The NBFC's disbursements soared 116% YoY and rose 7% QoQ, with 100% disbursements through organic route compared to 97% organic disbursements in Q2 FY23.
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