Benchmarks drift lower in early trade; Nifty below 17,450

The key equity benchmarks traded with limited losses in early trade amid negative global cues. The Nifty traded near the 17,450 mark. Banking and financial services stocks advanced while media, IT and metal shares declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 47.15 points or 0.08% to 59,417.78. The Nifty 50 index shed 42.20 points or 0.26% to 17,420.60.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.52% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.38%

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,011 shares rose and 1,719 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,470.34 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,400.98 crore in the Indian equity market on 24 February 2023, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Granules India fell 0.63%. The US Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) has approved the drug maker's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Losartan Potassium Tablets USP, 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg. It is bioequivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD), Cozaar tablets of Organon LLC. The current annual U.S. market for Losartan potassium tablets is approximately $336 million, according to MAT Dec 2022, IQVIA/IMS Health.

Piramal Enterprises declined 1.08%. The board is scheduled to meet on on Wednesday, 1 March 2023, to consider and approve the issue of secured, rated, listed, redeemable, non-convertible debentures up to Rs 100 crore along with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 500 crore, the total size aggregating up to Rs 600 crore, on a private placement basis.

Power Grid Corporation of India rose 0.07%. A special directors' committee approved aggregate investment to the tune of Rs 804 crore in four projects.

Global markets:

Asian shares declined across the board on Monday, after major indexes on Wall Street recorded their worst week for 2023.

The US stocks declined on Friday, following a bigger-than-expected increase in the latest reading for personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

The S&P 500 fell 42.28 points, or 1.1%, to 3970.04. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 195.46 points, or 1.7%, to 11394.94. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 336.99 points, or 1%, at 32816.92.

The personal-consumption-expenditures price index showed the cost of U.S. goods and services jumped 0.6% in January, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report Friday.

The more closely followed core index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation measure, also rose 0.6% in January, climbing 4.7% over the past 12 months.

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