Benchmarks hit day's low; breadth weak

The benchmark indices trimmed losses after hitting fresh intraday low in morning trade. Barring the Nifty FMCG index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE were in the red. Investors locked profits after recent steep gains.

At 10:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 264.20 points or 0.57% at 45,839.75. The Nifty 50 index slipped 92.85 points or 0.69% at 13,436.95.

The Sensex rose 3.33% in the past five consecutive sessions while the Nifty climbed 4.32% in seven straight days till 9 December 2020.

The correction was wide spread. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.19% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.31%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 669 shares rose and 1764 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

On Wednesday, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 3,564.23 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,493.10 crore in the Indian equity market, on a provisional basis.

COVID-19 Update:

The expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Wednesday sought additional safety and efficacy data from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech for their coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine, after deliberating upon their applications seeking authorisation for the shots.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 68,848,383 with 1,568,734 deaths. India reported 3,72,293 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,41,772 deaths while 92,53,306 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank slipped 0.9% to 30,432.25 amid profit booking. The index added 4.28% in the past four trading days.

IDFC First Bank (down 3.88%), Bank of Baroda (down 3.05%), Punjab National Bank (down 2.92%), Federal Bank (down 2.1%), IndusInd Bank (down 1.59%), HDFC Bank (down 1.13%) and SBI (down 1.02%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Agrochemical firm UPL slumped 14.95% to Rs 418.70 after a whistleblower reportedly alleged that the promoters have siphoned off money.

According to the media report, the whistleblower alleged that UPL entered into rent deals with the shell company owned by its employees and paid crores of rupees in rent for properties held by the latter, which was earlier owned by UPL chief Jaidev Shroff himself. The whistle-blower also claimed that shell entities were used to carry out other illegal transactions, reports added.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) slipped 1.24% after the company said that the operations in the automotive sector will be affected by the global supply shortage of micro-processors (semiconductors). M&M clarified this will in reduction in production / sales volume of the company (automotive division) and Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company (MVML) in the last quarter of FY 2020-2021.

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) rose 0.27% after a global oil & gas (O&G) major selected the company to be the primary engineering partner to support two of the integrated refining and chemicals manufacturing facilities in USA. Under a 5-year engagement, LTTS will provide engineering services at two integrated refining and chemicals manufacturing facilities in USA. This is a multi-year engagement with a potential value of more than $100 million

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