The key equity barometers were trading with minor cuts in mid-morning trade. The Nifty failed to hold above the 15,000 mark. Metal shares declined for the second consecutive session.
At 11:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 41.22 points or 0.08% to 49,861.42. The Nifty 50 index lost 33.75 points or 0.22% to 14,996.85.
The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.52%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1667 shares rose and 1101 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.
Investors assessed the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's meeting in April that flagged the possibility of a debate on scaling back asset purchases.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 164,626,458 with 3,413,801 global deaths.
India reported 31,29,878 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,87,122 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The country recorded 2,76,110 new COVID-19 cases and 3,874 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The total tally of the viral infection now stands at 2,57,72,440.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday approved a home-based rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit for COVID-19, which it advised should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on immediate contacts of laboratory confirmed positive cases.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index fell 1.77% to 5,153.20, declining for second day. The index has added 2.67% in two sessions.
Tata Steel (down 3.59%), SAIL (down 2.99%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.88%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.38%), MOIL (down 1.40%) and Coal India (down 1.28%) declined.
Meanwhile, Mishra Dhatu Nigam (up 2.95%) and Hindustan Copper (up 0.77%) bucked the trend.
Earnings Impact:
Clariant Chemicals (India) slumped 5.99% to Rs 490.40 after the company's net profit dropped 28.6% to Rs 10.97 crore on 29.1% surge in net sales to Rs 218.84 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.
Endurance Technologies gained 2.47% to Rs 1390.35 after the auto ancillary company reported a 75.3% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 187.29 crore on 33.6% rise in net sales to Rs 2132.90 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
Tanla Platforms slipped 1.20% to Rs 878.85. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit stood at Rs 102.54 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 89.13 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales rose 24.2% YoY to Rs 648.56 crore in Q4 FY21.
Global Markets:
Most Asian stocks were trading lower on Thursday. Japan's exports grew the most since 2010 in April, supported by a favourable comparison with the sharp plunge seen during the pandemic last year. Data out on Thursday showed exports rose 38% in April from a year earlier, compared with a 16.1% rise in March.
China's benchmark lending rate was kept unchanged in May, with the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) sitting at 3.85%. The five-year LPR was also held steady at 4.65%.
Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Wednesday after minutes from an April Federal Reserve meeting showed participants agreed the U.S. economy remained far from the central bank's goals, with some considering discussions on tapering its bond buying program.
The Fed's minutes said a strong pickup in economic activity would warrant discussions about tightening monetary policy in the coming months.
"A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee's goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases," according to minutes from the April 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee meeting published Wednesday.
In a press conference following last month's meeting, Chair Jerome Powell had said that it was premature to start talking about tapering.
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