The key equity benchmarks traded near the flat line, with minor gains, in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 18,350 level. While auto and oil & gas stocks advanced, FMCG, pharma and IT shares edged lower.
At 09:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 45.09 points or 0.07% to 61,669.24. The Nifty 50 index gained 18.30 points or 0.1% to 18,347.45.
ONGC (up 2.08%), Coal India (up 1.94%), NTPC (up 1.14%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.13%) and IndusInd Bank (up 1.08%) were the top Nifty gainers.
Concurrently, ITC (down 1.25%), Nestle (down 0.70%), HDFC Life (down 0.67%), Grasim (down 0.66%) and TCS (down 0.49%) were the top Nifty losers.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index traded flat.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,500 shares rose, and 1,207 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India's retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), fell to a three-month low of 6.77% in October, down from 7.41% in September. The overall food inflation, which accounts for nearly half the CPI basket, came in at 7.01% in October as against 8.60% in the preceding month.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) rose 2.56% and Mindtree gained 1.74%. LTI and Mindtree announced that both Mumbai and Bengaluru Benches of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) have approved, via two separate orders, the scheme of amalgamation and arrangement between the two companies and their respective shareholders and creditors.
The two companies had announced their intent to merge in May 2022. As part of the merger, all shareholders of Mindtree will be issued shares of LTI in the ratio of 73 shares of LTI for every 100 shares of Mindtree. The Record Date to determine the eligible shareholders of Mindtree for issue of equity shares of LTI pursuant to the scheme is fixed as 24 November 2022.
Godrej Properties shed 0.45%. The company said that it has achieved sales worth Rs 500 crore through the launch of its new project, Godrej Woodsville in Hinjewadi, Pune. The company, till date has sold 675+ homes accounting for an area of over 6.90 lakh square feet for the project launched in September 2022.
NMDC fell 3.40%. The company reported 62% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 889 crore in Q2 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 2342 crore in Q2 FY22. Total income fell 45% to Rs 3754 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 6882 crore posted in Q2 FY22.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks are mostly trading higher on Tuesday as investors weighed China's economic outlook and the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.
China's industrial production grew 5% in the month of October compared with a year ago, slowing from an increase of 6.3% seen in September. Separately, retail sales in China fell 0.5% in October from a year ago, missing expectations.
The Reserve Bank of Australia hinted at further and possibly larger interest hikes ahead in its efforts to tame inflationary pressures, according to the minutes released from its latest meeting.
The Board agreed on the importance of returning inflation to target and expects to increase interest rates further over the period ahead, it reportedly said in the release.
Japan's economy unexpectedly contracted in the third quarter from a year ago, official preliminary estimates showed. Gross domestic product shrank 1.2% in the July-to-September quarter compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden said there need not be a new Cold War between the U.S. and China, following a three-hour summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia.
Biden also said, I don't think there's any imminent attempt by China to invade Taiwan, despite escalating rhetoric and aggressive military moves by the People's Republic of China in the Taiwan Straits.
Biden and his Chinese counterpart held the much-anticipated meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit of economically developed nations in Bali.
US stocks fell on Monday, losing steam after a blistering rally last week as investors digested messaging from Federal Reserve officials on the path of monetary policy.
Investors waiting on earnings reports from prominent retailers this week including Walmart and Target.
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