Barometers trade flat; bank stocks decline

The key equity barometers traded near the flat line, with some positive bias in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,750 mark. Bank stocks witnessed across the board selling.

At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 55.74 points or 0.09% to 59,812.58. The Nifty 50 index gained 6.85 points or 0.04% to 17,743.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.67%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1402 shares rose and 1984 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted in a latest update that India's economy is likely to expand at 6.8% in 2022, revised down by 1.4% points since the April 2022 World Economic Outlook because of a weaker-than- expected recovery in the second quarter and subdued external demand. A further slowdown of India's growth to 6.1% is expected in 2023 as external demand and a tightening in monetary and financial conditions weigh on growth.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will hold an additional meeting on 3 November 2022. The MPC last met on 28 - 30 September 2022. It was slated to meet for the last time this calendar year on 5 - 7 December 2022.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper declined to 7.401 as compared with 7.412 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.4525, compared with its close of 82.3350 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2022 settlement shed 0.47% to Rs 50,498.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.33 % to 110.95.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.81% to 3.791.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2022 settlement lost 74 cents or 0.78% at $94.30 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slipped 0.97% to 40,900.25. The index had advanced 0.43% to end at 41,299.30 yesterday.

Federal Bank (down 2.79%), ICICI Bank (down 2.48%), Bank of Baroda (down 2.27%), State Bank of India (down 2.1%) and IDFC First Bank (down 1.85%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Axis Bank (down 1.58%), Bandhan Bank (down 1.37%), AU Small Finance Bank (down 1.18%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.47%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vardhman Textiles declined 2.16%. The company reported 57.1% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 204.90 crore a 3.5% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 2,469.58 crore in Q2 FY23 oer Q2 FY22.

C E Info Systems fell 2.85%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 0.08% to Rs 25.41 crore on 34.63% increase in net sales to Rs 76.31 crore in Q2 September 2022 over Q2 September 2021.

Supreme Petrochem lost 2.64%. The company reported 53.1% fall in net profit to Rs 59.65 crore despite a 3.6% rise in net sales to Rs 1231.76 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

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