The headline equity indices ended a volatile session with modest losses on Monday. The Nifty closed a tad below the 17,850 mark after hitting the day's high of 18,004.35 in morning trade. IT and auto stocks edged higher. On the other hand, oil & gas, bank and financial services shares witnessed a bit of a selling pressure.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex slipped 311.03 points or 0.51% to 60,691.54. The Nifty 50 index lost 99.60 points or 0.56% to 17,844.60.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.16%
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,396 shares rose and 2,178 shares fell. A total of 164 shares were unchanged.
Meanwhile, the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, gained 2.27% to 13.38.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 1.14% to 7,149.15. The index witnessed profit booking after gaining 1.31% in four trading sessions.
Adani Total Gas (down 5%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.67%), Petronet LNG (down 1.3%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.3%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (down 1.28%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 1.26%), Reliance Industries (down 1.11%), Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.96%), Castrol India (down 0.7%) and Oil India (down 0.56%) slipped.
On the other hand, Gujarat Gas (up 2.64%) ,Indraprastha Gas (up 0.59%) and Mahanagar Gas (up 0.3%) advanced.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Unilever shed 0.21%. The FMCG major has signed an agreement for the sale of its atta and salt business carried out under the brands 'Annapurna' and 'Captain Cook.' The brands were sold at Rs 60.4 crore to Uma Global Foods, and Uma Consumer Products, which are subsidiaries of Reactivate Brands International, a Singapore-headquartered company and an affiliate of CSAW Aqbator (Singapore).
Cipla dropped 6.12%. The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) conducted a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) inspection at the company's Pithampur manufacturing facility from 6th - 17th February 2023. On conclusion of the inspection, the company has received 8 inspectional observations in Form 483. The company will work closely with the USFDA and is committed to address these comprehensively within stipulated time.
Tata Motors rose 0.63% after the media reports suggested that the company would supply 25,000 XPREST electric vehicle (EV) units to Uber in one of the largest deals in the green mobility space till date.
Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries added 0.29%. The pharma major announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire minority stake up to 26.09% in Agatsa Software and 27.39% in Remidio Innovative Solutions.
Crisil gained 2.31%. On consolidated basis, Crisil's net profit fell 6.3% to Rs 158.02 crore in Q4 FY22 as compared with Rs 168.63 crore in Q4 FY21. Income from operations jumped 16.5% year on year to Rs 822.3 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022.
Power Grid Corporation of India added 0.37%. The state-owned firm said that it has been declared as the successful bidder under tariff based competitive bidding to establish inter-state transmission system for the following projects on build, own operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
Zydus Lifesciences fell 1.36%. The drug maker received tentative approval from the USFDA for Gabapentin tablets (once-daily), 300 mg and 600 mg. Further, it also received tentative approval from the USFDA for Canagliflozin and Metformin Hydrochloride tablets.
United Breweries (UBL) declined 1.26%. The company announced that its managing director and chief executive officer, Rishi Pardal, tendered his resignation on 16 February 2023. UBL said its board has commenced a search for a new managing director & CEO for the company.
Ugro Capital lost 1.39%. The investment and borrowing committee of the company's board has approved fund raising of up to Rs 20 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. The NBFC said that the NCDs will be issued at a coupon rate of 10% per annum. The tentative allotment date for the NCD is 24 February 2023. The tenure of the instrument is 18 months from the date of allotment. Meanwhile, the tentative maturity date is 24 August 2024.
Global Markets:
Markets in Europe tumbled while Asian stocks ended higher on Monday, with investors being cautious at the start of a week that includes the release of important Eurozone activity data as well as the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting.
Monday's U.S. holiday, to celebrate President's Day, is likely to limit trading volumes in Europe, but investors will also be wary of taking strong positions ahead of some important regional economic data.
The highlight of the week will be Tuesday's flash PMI data for February, which will show how well the Eurozone economy is performing after unexpectedly growing in the final quarter of 2022.
The bloc is also scheduled to release final inflation figures for January on Thursday, which will be in focus after delayed German data was omitted from the first estimate. ECB officials have repeatedly highlighted their fears about stubborn underlying inflation.
Elsewhere, China's central bank left its interest rates unchanged earlier Monday, tensions between Beijing and Washington remained fraught due to issues surrounding the alleged Chinese spy balloon and potential aid to Russia, while North Korea has reportedly fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday.
US stocks ended mixed on Friday. Traders were concerned that the Federal Reserve could lift rates by more than expected amid recent data pointing to a stronger economy and sticky inflation.
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