The domestic equity benchmarks ended with modest losses after a volatile session of trade on Wednesday. The Nifty settled a tad below the 15,800 level after hitting a day's high of 15,861.60 in the mid-afternoon trade.
Tracking weakness across global markets, the investor sentiment remained mostly subdued after U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated to its lowest level in over a year in June. Lingering concerns about a potential recession following aggressive rate hikes by major global central banks further dampened the investor sentiment.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 150.48 points or 0.28% to 53,026.97. The Nifty 50 index lost 51.10 points or 0.32% to 15,799.10.
In the past four sessions, the Sensex has gained 2.61% while the Nifty has added 2.83% during the same period.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.70% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.18%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,521 shares rose and 1,781 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, the Nifty Oil & Gas index (up 1.02%), the Nifty Metal index (up 0.24%) and the Nifty Realty index (up 0.22%) outperformed the Nifty50 index. Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index (down 1.29%), the Nifty FMCG index (down 1.27%) and the Nifty Private Bank index (down 1.12%) underperformed the Nifty50 index.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 7.459 as compared with 7.466 at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 79.03, compared with its close of 78.85 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2022 settlement declined 0.09% to Rs 50,777.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.02% to 104.52.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for August 2022 settlement rose 37 cents or 0.31 % at $118.35 a barrel. The contract rose $2.89 or 2.51% to settle at $ 117.98 a barrel during the previous trading session.
India's crude oil refinery throughput stood at 4792 thousand barrels per day in 2021, according to a latest update from British Petroleum. This marks a sharp spurt of 6.65% compared to the previous year. India's crude oil consumption also moved up 3.76% on year to 4878 thousand barrels per day.
Foreign Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia slipped across the board on Wednesday after Wall Street's negative performance on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, China cut the quarantine period for international travelers on Tuesday, in a step away from its strict Covid controls that have been in place for more than two years. People arriving from overseas will now need to quarantine for seven days upon arrival and three days at home, compared to up to 21 days in a centralized facility previously.
Retail sales in Japan rose 3.6% in May compared to a year ago, a third consecutive month of growth, government data showed. South Korea's consumer sentiment index fell, standing at 96.4 for June 2022, down 6.2 points from May's print, according to Bank of Korea's survey.
US stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a report showed US consumer confidence dropped in June amid concerns about inflation, while oil prices gained for a third day.
US Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday promised further rapid interest-rate hikes to bring down high inflation, but pushed back against growing fears among investors and economists that sharply higher borrowing costs will trigger a steep downturn, as per reports.
On the macro front, the consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 98.7, down from 103.2 in May, according to The Conference Board. The Conference Board also said 12-month inflation expectations for its consumer confidence survey were at 8% for June, the highest level in data going back to August 1987.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 1.29% to 28,140.10, snapping its two days gaining streak. The index has gained 2.6% in two trading sessions.
Among the components of the Nifty IT index, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 3.63%), Mindtree (down 2.94%), L&T Technology Services (down 2.8%), Mphasis (down 2.36%) and Coforge (down 2.2%) were the top losers.
Among the other losers were Wipro (down 1.81%), HCL Technologies (down 1.49%), Infosys (down 1.22%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.94%) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.36%).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Reliance Industries rose 1.82%. RIL's digital arm Reliance Jio Infocomm has reportedly approved the appointment of Akash Ambani, its non-executive director, as the chairman of the company. Mukesh Ambani has stepped down as the company's director, effective from the close of working hours on June 27. Mukesh Ambani will continue to be the chairman of Jio Platforms Ltd, the flagship company that owns all Jio digital services brands, including Reliance Jio Infocomm, the reports added. Akash Ambani, the elder son of RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, had reportedly joined Jio's board of directors in 2014.
State Bank of India (SBI) declined 0.92%. SBI has entered into an agreement in relation to an investment in the equity shares of Perfios Account Aggregation Services Private Limited. Perfios carries on the activities of an "Account Aggregator".
Hindalco Industries rose 0.51%. The Aditya Birla Group company on Wednesday announced that its board has given approval to make an investment of 71.50 lakh in the equity share capital of Cleanwin Energy SIX. The aggregate cost of acquisition is Rs 71,50,000 for acquiring 26% stake in Cleanwin Energy SIX. The company said that it has contributed its initial equity contribution on 30 May 2022. Further the firm will continue to update the project details at later stage, it added.
Route Mobile tumbled 6.83%. The board of the company on Tuesday approved the share buyback of upto Rs 120 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 1,700 per equity share via open market. The maximum buyback price of Rs 1,700 per equity share represents a 27.94% premium to Tuesday's closing price of Rs 1328.70 on the BSE. The indicative maximum number of equity shares bought back would be 705,882 (maximum buyback shares), which is 1.12% of the total number of paid-up equity shares of the company.
Acrysil rallied 9.91% after the company said that it has completed the capacity expansion of an additional 160,000 units of Quartz Kitchen Sinks at its Bhavnagar plant in Gujarat. The household appliances company said that the commercial production of additional 160,000 units has commenced from 28 June 2022. The manufacturing capacity of Quartz Kitchen Sinks has increased from 840,000 units to 1,000,000 units per annum (p.a), it added.
Genus Paper & Boards was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 17.20 after the company announced on Tuesday that it has commenced commercial production of Kraft Paper Machine Line, at its new unit located at Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The production at the Muzaffarnagar has unit commenced on 27 June 2022. This unit has manufacturing facilities for production of kraft paper (two lines) and duplex paper.
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