Barometers trade with moderate gains; bank shares advance

The benchmark indices continued to trade with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,700 level. Bank shares advanced after declining for the past five consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 467.24 points or 0.60% to 78,512.40. The Nifty 50 index jumped 158.55 points or 0.66% to 23,744.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.17% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.43%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,673 shares rose and 2,370 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

 

Economy:

India's foreign exchange reserves dipped by $1.98 billion to $652.87 billion as of December 13, according to data shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI showed that the primary contributor to this decline was the drop in Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), which fell by $3 billion to $562.58 billion.

Meanwhile, gold reserves were up by $1.12 billion, bringing the total to $68 billion.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) dipped by $35 million, now totaling $17.99 billion, while the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contracted by $27 million, standing at $42.40 billion.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index rose 1% to 51,265.55. The index slipped 4.32% in past five consecutive trading sessions.

AU Small Finance Bank (up 2.22%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.16%), Canara Bank (up 1.7%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.4%), Federal Bank (up 1.33%), HDFC Bank (up 1.29%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.83%), State Bank of India (up 0.82%), IDFC First Bank (up 0.6%) and Axis Bank (up 0.34%) added.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.49% to 6.892 as compared with the previous close of 6.790.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.0925, compared with its previous close of 85.0400 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2025 settlement rose 0.17% to Rs 76,550.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.31% to 107.95.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.24% to 4.534.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2025 settlement added 15 cents, or 0.21% to $73.09 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sealmatic India declined 3.49%. The company and its joint venture, High Technology FZ-LLC (HiTech), has incorporated Sealtech Seals Repairs and Maintenance L.L.C. (SealTech LLC) to set up a dedicated service center in Abu Dabhi.

Bata India shed 0.28%. The companys board of directors has approved the appointment of Amit Aggarwal as the whole-time director and chief financial officer (KMP) of the company with effect from 23 December 2024 for a period of five consecutive years.

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