The headline equity indices pared gains and traded near the flat line in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded a tad above the 17,750 mark. Oil & gas, auto and IT stocks advanced while metal, pharma and media shares witnessed a bit of a selling pressure.
At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 97.88 points or 0.16% to 59,854.72. The Nifty 50 index gained 15.70 points or 0.09% to 17,752.65.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.55% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.55%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,431 shares rose and 1,895 shares fell. A total of 164 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted in a latest update that India's economy is likely to expand at 6.8% in 2022, revised down by 1.4% points since the April 2022 World Economic Outlook because of a weaker-than- expected recovery in the second quarter and subdued external demand. A further slowdown of India's growth to 6.1% is expected in 2023 as external demand and a tightening in monetary and financial conditions weigh on growth.
Gainers & Losers:
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (up 3.03%), Reliance Industries (RIL) (up 2.48%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.10%), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (up 1.93%) and NTPC (up 1.88%) were the top Nifty gainers.
Tata Steel (down 2.98%), Hindalco Industries (up 2.74%), ICICI Bank (down 2.36%), Grasim Industries (up 2.12%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2%) were the top Nifty losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
SBI Cards and Payment Services slipped 5.51%. The company's net profit jumped 52.1% to Rs 525.64 crore on 28.1% rise in total income to Rs 3,453.32 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22. Interest income increased by 26.5% to Rs 1,484.46 crore in Q2 FY23 as against Rs 1,173.16 crore recorded in the same quarter last year. Income from fees and services surged 29.5% to Rs 1,611 crore in the Q2 FY23 from Rs 1,244 crore posted in Q2 FY22.
Indus Towers skid 2.30% after the company's consolidated net profit slumped 44.1% to Rs 871.80 crore in Q2 FY23 as against Rs 1,558.50 crore recorded in Q2 FY22. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 7,966.60 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 6,876.50 crore posted in the corresponding quarter previous year, registering a growth of 15.9%.
Tata Chemicals dropped 4.47%. The company reported a consolidated net profit (from continuing operations) of Rs 685 crore in Q2 FY23, steeply higher than Rs 248 crore posted in Q2 FY22. Revenue from operations jumped 40.2% to Rs 4,239 crore in quarter ended 30 September 2022 from Rs 3,022.63 crore recorded in Q2 FY22.The company said that the operating performance reflects improved realisations and efficient cost management in the context of elevated energy and input costs.
Dhanuka Agritech jumped 5.69% after the agrochem player said its board will consider share buyback on 1 November 2022. In the same meeting, the board will also consider the company's un-audited standalone and consolidated financial results for the quarter and half year ended September 2022.
Infibeam Avenues hit an upper circuit of 20%. The company informed that the Reserve Bank of India has granted in-principle authorisation to operate as a 'Payment Aggregator' under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to the Company.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled on Friday as the European Central Bank (ECB) hiked its interest rate by 75 basis points on Thursday, its third consecutive increase this year.
The latest rate hike takes the ECB's main benchmark from 0.75% to 1.5%. The ECB also announced that it was changing the terms and conditions of its targeted longer-term refinancing operations or TLTRO.
Japan's central bank left interest rates unchanged on Friday. The Bank of Japan also said it would purchase necessary amounts of Japanese government bonds at a fixed rate in order to keep 10-year JGB yields at 0%.
"The Bank will support financing, mainly of firms, and maintain stability in financial markets, and will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary, it reportedly said in its monetary policy statement.
Meanwhile, Japan's jobless rate rose to 2.6% in September, while the availability of jobs improved for the ninth straight month to two and a half year high, government data showed on Friday. Analysts reportedly expected unemployment to stay unchanged from August at 2.5%.
The jobs-to-applicants ratio stood at 1.34, labour ministry data showed, higher than 1.32 in August and marking its highest since March 2020.
In US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted losses on Thursday, as investors contended with solid economic data and a mixed bag of corporate earnings.
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.6% annualized pace for the period, the Bureau of Economic Analysis report showed. The chain-weighted price index, a cost-of-living measure that is adjusted to reflect changing consumer behavior, rose 4.1% for the quarter. Headline inflation rose 4.2%, down sharply from 7.3%, according to a gauge the Federal Reserve uses.
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