Barometers trade with minor cuts; market breadth strong

The key equity indices traded with minor cuts ahead of RBI's monetary policy announcement. The Nifty traded below the 18,650 mark. FMCG, oil & gas and PSU banks advanced while IT, auto and metal stocks lagged behind.

At 09:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 58.69 points or 0.09% to 62,567.67. The Nifty 50 index lost 19.20 points or 0.1% to 18,623.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.24% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.17%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1716 shares rose and 856 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started its bi-monthly policy review with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Monday (5 December). The policy outcome will be disclosed on today, 7 December 2022. More than the quantum of rate hikes, domestic investors would watch out for RBI's commentary as it ramps up its efforts to curb inflation and push growth.

On the political front, various exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat and a dead heat in Himachal Pradesh where most pollsters gave an edge to the ruling party over the Congress. The counting of votes in both states will take place on 8 December. Elections for the Himachal Pradesh assembly took place on 12 November, while polling in Gujarat happened in two phases on 1 and 5 December.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Siemens jumped 5.33%. The company has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for the 9000 HP Electric Locomotives project in Dahod, Gujarat, India.

GMR Airports Infrastructure shed 0.69%. GMR Airports (GAL), the airport business holding entity and a subsidiary of GMR Airports Infrastructure (formerly known as GMR Infrastructure) and NIIF (National Investment and Infrastructure Fund) announce a financial partnership for NIIF to invest in the equity capital of three airport projects. These include the greenfield international airports at Mopa, Goa and Bhogapuram, Andhra Pradesh.

Ircon International gained 2.24%. The company has been awarded the work for procurement of design, installation, testing, commissioning and certifying of signalling and telecommunication system from Maho Junction (Including) to Anuradhapura (Excluding) by Sri Lanka Railways, Ministry of Transport, Sri Lanka, at a total price of $14.89 million equivalent to approximately Rs 122 crore.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading lower on Wednesday after major U.S. indexes fell more than 1% each overnight as recession concerns weigh on markets.

US stocks tumbled Tuesday, building on the previous session's losses, as fears of a recession gripped Wall Street.

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