Benchmarks end with minor losses; Nifty settles below 17,350; banks drag

The benchmark indices ended with minor losses on Wednesday. Pharma, FMCG and oil & gas stocks supported the indices while banks and metal stocks dragged. Trading was volatile as the Nifty bounced from its intraday low of 17,257.70 hit in mid-morning trade to hit the day's high of 17,490.60 in mid-afternoon trade on the back of de-escalating tensions along the Russia-Ukraine border. However, the index sharply pared gains in the last hour of trading session, tracking weakness in European shares.

The S&P BSE Sensex, fell 145.37 points or 0.25% at 57,996.68. The Nifty 50 index slipped 30.25 points or 0.17% at 17,322.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.03% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.42%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,028 shares rose and 1,325 shares fell. A total of 100 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.688% as compared with 6.673% 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 75.07, compared with its close of 75.32 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement fell 0.09% to Rs 49,342.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.13% to 95.86.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2022 settlement rose 67 cents, or 0.72% at $93.95 a barrel.

Economy:

India's overall exports in January this year are estimated to be 61.41 billion dollars, exhibiting a positive growth of 36.76% over the same period last year and a positive growth of 38.90% over January 2020. Overall imports in January this year are estimated to be 67.76 billion dollars, exhibiting a slower rate of growth of 30.54% over the same period last year and a positive growth of 30.19% over January 2020.

India's overall exports in April to January 2021-22 are estimated to be 545.71 billion dollars. This is a positive growth of 37.68% over the same period last year and a positive growth of 23.29% over April-January 2019-20. Overall imports in April-January 2021-22 are estimated to be 616.91 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 54.35% over the same period last year and a positive growth of 20.15% over April-January 2019-20.

Global Markets:

European shares declined while Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors assessed the geopolitical outlook following Russia's partial withdrawal from the Ukrainian border, while corporate earnings season rumbles on.

Russia announced that it had begun returning some troops to deployment bases after training exercises near the Ukrainian border, assuaging fears of an imminent invasion and raising hopes of a de-escalation of recent tensions with the West. However, Western officials and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged caution in taking Russia's claims at face value, as per media houses.

In Asia, China's consumer price index for January rose 0.9% as compared with a year ago. Chinese producer inflation for January rose 9.1% as compared with a year earlier.

In Europe, U.K. inflation came in at an annual 5.5% in January, remaining at a 30-year high. On a monthly basis, consumer prices contracted by 0.1%.

New Listing:

Shares of Vedant Fashions (Manyavar) settled at Rs 934.85 on BSE, at a premium of 7.95% as against the issue price of Rs 866. The scrip was listed at Rs 936, representing a premium of 8.08% to the initial public offer (IPO) price. The scrip has hit a high of Rs 993 and a low of Rs 921. Over 8.21 lakh shares of the company changed hands in the counter.

The IPO of Vedant Fashions (Manyavar) was subscribed 2.57 times. The issue opened for bidding on 4 February 2022 and closed on 8 February 2022. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 824-866 per share.

Buzzing Segment:

The Nifty Bank index fell 0.57% to 37,953.80. The index jumped 3.42% in the previous trading session.

AU Small Finance Bank (down 2.38%), SBI (down 1.87%), ICICI Bank (down 1.73%), Bandhan Bank (down 1.52%), Federal Bank (down 1.34%), IDFC FIRST Bank (down 0.44%), HDFC Bank (down 0.35%), Axis Bank (down 0.33%), RBL Bank (down 0.28%) and Indusind Bank (down 0.22%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tech Mahindra lost 0.08%. The IT major said that its wholly owned subsidiary Tech Mahindra (Singapore) has approved the proposal to acquire 80% equity shares in Geomatic.AI for a cash consideration of 6 million Australian dollars (AUD).

Info Edge (India) declined 2.16%. The company said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire securities in Juno Learning (Juno) for an amount of about Rs 11.25 crore. Juno is engaged in the business, which is an interactive, online school that teaches sales techniques, processes, and tools to students and entry-level professionals in an experiential manner, to enhance employability.

Punjab & Sind Bank advanced 3.13%. The public sector lender declared IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power as fraud account and has considered it as bad asset with dues of over Rs 148 crore. The bank has reported it to the Reserve Bank of India. Punjab & Sind Bank said that it had already made provisions amounting to Rs 59.54 crore, as per prescribed prudential norms. Meanwhile, the bank's board will meet on 17 February 2022 to consider allotting equity shares worth upto Rs 4,600 crore to the Government of India by way of preferential issue of equity shares.

Tilaknagar Industries rose 1.04%. The company said that its Shrirampur bottling facility in Maharashtra has commenced production of brands of French multinational Pernod Ricard India from 15 February 2022.

Torrent Power slipped 1.36%. The company said it has acquired 100% stake of Visual Percept Solar Projects, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which operates 25 MW solar power plant in Gujarat. The company last week had informed that enterprise value for this acquisition is estimated at Rs 163 crore, subject to closing price adjustments, if any.

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