Benchmarks pare some losses; IT shares edge lower

The domestic equity benchmarks pared some of the early losses in morning trade. The Nifty traded above the 18,600 mark. IT shares declined for third consecutive session.

At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 249.57 points or 0.40% to 62,585.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 79.20 points or 0.42% to 18,621.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.21% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index traded flat.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1771 shares rose and 1414 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started its bi-monthly policy review with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting yesterday. The bi-monthly policy review is expected to come out on 7 December 2022. More than the quantum of rate hikes, domestic investors would watch out for RBI's commentary as it ramps up its efforts to curb inflation and push growth.

On the political front, various exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat and a dead heat in Himachal Pradesh where most pollsters gave an edge to the ruling party over the Congress. The counting of votes in both states will take place on December 8. Elections for the Himachal Pradesh assembly took place on November 12, while polling in Gujarat happened in two phases on December 1 and 5.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index fell 1.28% to 30,494.70. The index has lost 2.01% in three sessions.

LTI Mindtree (down 2.05%), HCL Technologies (down 1.87%), Mphasis (down 1.68%), Coforge (down 1.52%) and L&T Technology Services (down 1.46%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Persistent Systems (down 1.33%), Infosys (down 0.99%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 0.99%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.89%) and Wipro (down 0.58%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ahluwalia Contracts (India) added 3.90%. The company has secured an order for construction of 5000 Seating Capacity Public Auditorium at Guwahati from Executive Engineer, PWD, Dispur, Guwahati (Assam) worth of approximately Rs 174.88 crore.

Dhunseri Tea & Industries zoomed 14.97%. The company has entered into memorandum of understanding with Apeejay Tea for acquisition of the two tea estates located in Tinsukia District in the State of Assam for a total consideration of Rs 109 crore.

Astra Microwave Products rose 2.63%. The company said its board will meet on Friday, 9 December 2022, to consider raising funds worth upto Rs 400 crore. The company is planning to raise funds by issuing any instrument or securities, including equity shares, fully/partly convertible debentures, global depository receipts, American depository receipts, foreign currency convertible bonds, warrants, or any combination thereof, in one or more tranches. The proposed fund raising will be through a public issue, preferential allotment, private placement (including one or more qualified institutional placements), or through any other permissible mode and / or combination thereof.

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