The key equity benchmarks ended near the day's low after a volatile session on Wednesday. The Nifty managed to close above above the 18,550 level after hitting the day's low of 18,528.40 in the last hour of trade. FMCG and PSU bank stocks advanced while media, consumer durables, realty and auto stocks declined.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 215.68 points or 0.34% to 62,410.68. The Nifty 50 index lost 82.25 points or 0.44% to 18,560.50.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.41% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.44%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,522 shares rose and 1,976 shares fell. A total of 143 shares were unchanged.
On the political front, various exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat and a dead heat in Himachal Pradesh where most pollsters gave an edge to the ruling party over the Congress. The counting of votes in both states will take place on 8 December. Elections for the Himachal Pradesh assembly took place on 12 November, while polling in Gujarat happened in two phases on 1 and 5 December.
RBI MPC Meet Outcome:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the policy repo rate by 35 bps to 6.25% after the conclusion of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today, 7 December 2022.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the central bank has hiked lending rate by 35 basis points as inflation has started showing signs of easing and economic growth tapering.
Standing Deposit Facility rate and Marginal Standing Facility Rate were also increased by 35 basis points each to 6% and 6.5%.
Das said the MPC voted 4-2 to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation so that inflation remains within the target going forward while supporting growth.
On balance, MPC was of the view that further calibrated action was warranted to keep inflation expectation anchored, break core inflation persistence and contain second round effects.
RBI expects inflation to be above 4% in the next 12 months. The GDP growth forecast for October-December 2022 is lowered to 4.4%. It is lowered to 4.2% for January-March 2023 period.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 1.06% to 26,096.05. The index had declined 1.98% in the past four sessions.
Rajesh Exports (down 4.66%), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (down 1.7%), Bata India (down 1.57%), Dixon Technologies (India) (down 1.54%) and TTK Prestige (down 1.45%) were the top losers.
Among the other losers were Havells India (down 1.43%), Kajaria Ceramics (down 1.2%), Whirlpool of India (down 1.03%), Titan Company (down 0.86%) and Voltas (down 0.49%).
On the other hand, Blue Star (up 0.85%), Orient Electric (up 0.31%) and Relaxo Footwears (up 0.09%) moved up.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Siemens jumped 5.12%. The company has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for the 9000 HP Electric Locomotives project in Dahod, Gujarat, India.
Vedanta shed 0.37%. The mining company on Tuesday announced that its board will meet on Friday, 9 December 2022 to consider fund raising by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) aggregating up to Rs 500 crore in one or more tranches.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.58%. The EPC major announced that its construction arm has secured 'mega' orders for its minerals and metals (M&M) business. As per L&T classification, the value of the mega project is above Rs 7,000 crore.
Ugro Capital rose 0.47%. A meeting of the Investment and borrowing committee of the board of directors is scheduled to be held on 9 December 2022, to consider and approve raising of funds by way of issuance of market-linked non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.
Bikaji Foods International advanced 2.89%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 43.6% to Rs 40.93 crore on 31.8% rise in net sales to Rs 576.97 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.
Ircon International gained 0.23%. The company has been awarded the work for procurement of design, installation, testing, commissioning and certifying of signalling and telecommunication system from Maho Junction (Including) to Anuradhapura (Excluding) by Sri Lanka Railways, Ministry of Transport, Sri Lanka, at a total price of $14.89 million equivalent to approximately Rs 122 crore.
Star Housing Finance gained 1.62%. The company announced that its board has approved 2-for-1 stock split and 1:1 issue of bonus shares.
Global Markets:
Markets in Europe and Asia tumbled on Wednesday after major U.S. indexes fell more than 1% each overnight as recession concerns weigh on markets.
US stocks tumbled Tuesday, building on the previous session's losses, as fears of a recession gripped Wall Street.
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