Benchmarks hit fresh intraday low; media stocks in demand

The key equity indices reversed early gains and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The Nifty was trading below the 17,400 mark. Media stocks advanced for the third straight session.

At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 243.71 points or 0.42% to 58,405.97. The Nifty 50 index lost 73.8 points or 0.42% to 17395.95.

The domestic equity indices witnessed profit booking after advancing 3.3% in the past two sessions.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.10% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.34%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1828 shares rose and 1119 shares fell. A total of 133 shares were unchanged.

The underlying investor sentiment, however, continues to remain strong after media reported that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may not disrupt economies as much as feared. A report from Pfizer and BioNTech indicated that a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine neutralized omicron in laboratory tests, but that a two-dose regimen is less effective.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 1.99% to 2,376.45, extending gains for third day in a row. The index has added 6.07% in three sessions.

Zee Entertainment (up 3.64%), Network 18 Media (up 2.89%), TV18 Broadcast (up 2.28%), Dish TV India (up 2.12%) and PVR (up 1.60%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RailTel Corporation of India added 3.40% to Rs 123.20. The company has received work order from Ircon International at a total cost of Rs. 210.77 crore (Inclusive of GST). The entire work is to be completed in a period of twelve months.

REC shed 0.26% to Rs 135.80. The company's board has approved the proposal for sale and transfer of Kallam Transmission to the successful bidder, selected through tariff based competitive bidding process.

Infosys slipped 0.31% to Rs 1747.40. The IT firm has announced a strategic collaboration with the Financial Times (FT), a leading business news organization, as part of which Infosys will leverage digital innovation to support the latest creative and engaging data-led storytelling experiences for FT's readers.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News