Barometers turn rangebound, metal stocks lose shine

The frontline indices traded in a narrow range with minor cuts in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded a tad above the 17,850 mark after hitting the day's low of 17,779.80 in morning trade. Media and IT shares were in demand while metal, bank and auto stocks slipped. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 28.99 points or 0.05% to 60,634.80. The Nifty 50 index declined 18.85 points or 0.11% to 17,852.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.08%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,630 shares rose and 1,733 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Bajaj Finserv (up 1.98%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 1.54%), Asian Paints (up 1.43%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.22%) and Grasim Industries (up 0.98%) were major Nifty gainers.

Adani Enterprises (down 11.23%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) (down 3.94%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.67%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.30%) and Tata Steel (down 1.26%) were top Nifty losers. '

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Power hit a lower circuit of 5% after the company's consolidated net profit slumped 96% to Rs 8.77 crore in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 218.49 crore recorded in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 7,764.41 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022, registering a growth of 44.8% from Rs 5,360.88 crore posted in Q3 FY22.

Cummins India jumped 7.43% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 65.9% to Rs 413.80 crore on 25.7% increase in net sales to Rs 2148.99 crore in Q3 December 2022 over Q3 December 2021.

Trent surged 7.72% after the company's consolidated net profit rose 19.6% to Rs 167 crore on 53.7% increase in net sales to Rs 2303.38 crore in Q3 December 2022 over Q3 December 2021.

MRF slipped 3.82%. The tyre maker's consolidated net profit rose 17.03% to Rs 174.83 crore on 14.72% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 5,644.55 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. The company's board has declared a second interim dividend of Rs 3 per equity share for the financial year ending 31 March 2023. The record date for the same is fixed on Tuesday, 21 February 2023.

Oberoi Realty rose 0.86%. The real estate developer's consolidated net profit surged 50.3% to Rs 702.57 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 467.53 crore reported in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations soared 95.8% to Rs 1,629.46 in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 832.01 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Equitas Small Finance Bank (Equitas SFB) rallied 3.32% after the bank's net profit surged 57.4% to Rs 170.13 crore on 17.5% rise in total income to Rs 1,216.03 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday, as investors assessed further risks of more rate hikes to come.

Rating agency Fitch has revised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2023 to 5.0% from 4.1% previously as consumption and broader activity are recovering faster than initially anticipated after the end of the zero-COVID regime.

US stocks fell on Wednesday on corporate profit worries including Chipotle and Lumen Technologies' disappointing results. A number of Federal Reserve speakers reiterated the central bank is yet to be finished with its hiking cycle, including Fed Governor Christopher Waller.

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