The domestic equity benchmarks pared all gains and turned red in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded tad above the 18,100 level after hitting the day's high at 18,201.25 in early trade. Auto shares advanced for second day in a row.
At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 11.26 points or 0.02% to 60,930.41. The Nifty 50 index lost 16.20 points or 0.09% to 18,102.35.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.36%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,457 shares rose, and 1,992 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 7.348 from its close of 7.352 recorded in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.5775, compared with its close of 81.4200 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement added 0.42% to Rs 57,055.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.22% to 101.92.
The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.69% to 3.499.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2023 settlement gained 6 cents or 0.07% to $88.25 a barrel.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index advanced 1.14% to 12,943.50. The index had added 1.98% in two sessions.
Tata Motors (up 3.38%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 1.76%), Bosch (up 1.31%) and Samvardhana Motherson International (up 1.3%) were the top gainers.
Among the other gainers were Bajaj Auto (up 0.9%), Tube Investments of India (up 0.62%), Eicher Motors (up 0.43%), MRF (up 0.28%) and Ashok Leyland (up 0.2%).
On the other hand, Bharat Forge (down 0.68%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.14%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.05%) moved lower.
Maruti Suzuki India gained 3.05%. The auto major's standalone net profit zoomed 132.5% to Rs 2,351.3 crore on 25.52% jump in net sales to Rs 27,849.2 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.
Operating EBIT soared 131% to Rs 2,123 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 919 crore reported in Q3 FY22. Operating EBIT margin improved to 7.6% as on 31 December 2022 as against 4.1% as of 31 December 2021.
Pending customer orders stood at about 363,000 vehicles at the end of this quarter out of which about 119,000 orders were for newly launched models, the company said.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Supreme Petrochem rose 0.54%. The petrochemical company's net profit tumbled 45.6% to Rs 89.59 in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 164.54 crore recorded in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations was at Rs 1,177.39 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022, declining 9% from Rs 1,294.08 crore reported in the same period a year ago.
JSW Steel shed 0.87%. The company said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, JSW Steel Coated Products (JSWSCPL), has entered into a shareholders' agreement and a share subscription agreement to acquire 31% stake in Ayena Innovation for total consideration of Rs 5.99 crore.
Ayena is a start-up registered by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and will be in the business of development, manufacturing, and sales of quick-to-install modular solutions including modular kitchens. This proposed investment is in line with endeavours of JSWSCPL to explore new avenues to increase consumption of coated steel products. It will enable JSWSCPL to further diversify its customer portfolio mix and enhancing its presence in the retail business.
Indoco Remedies tumbled 9.04%. The company's net profit declined 15% to Rs 27.9 crore despite an 18% rise in net revenues to Rs 410.6 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.
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