Benchmarks trade near flat line; Consumer durables shares slide

The key equity indices traded near the flat line with some negative bias in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 17,550 mark. Consumer durable shares declined for the second straight day. Trading was volatile on account of monthly options expiry.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India and U.S. Federal Reserve minutes revealed that they are willing to keep increasing the interest rates as inflation remains a concern.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 13.35 points or 0.02% to 59,731.63. The Nifty 50 index lost 2.60 points or 0.01% to 17,551.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.52% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.12%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,532 shares rose and 1,772 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.58% to 15.1850. The Nifty 23 February 2023 futures were trading at 17,650.05, at a premium of 98.35 points as compared with the spot at 17,551.70.

The Nifty option chain for the 23 February 2023 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 168.1 lakh contracts at the 17,600 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 184.8 lakh contracts were seen at 17,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Consumer Durables index fell 0.87% to 23,942.10. The index shed 1.48% in two trading sessions.

Rajesh Exports (down 2.25%), Whirlpool of India (down 1.45%), Titan Company (down 1.39%), Voltas (down 1.31%), Kajaria Ceramics (down 1.04%), Relaxo Footwears (down 0.83%), Havells India (down 0.31%), Bata India (down 0.27%), Blue Star (down 0.13%) and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (down 0.08%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Orient Cement rose 0.09%. The company on Wednesday announced that the non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) that it had entered with Adani Power Maharashtra (APML) has been terminated. In September 2021, Orient Cement had entered into the non-binding MoU with APML for setting out the understanding for facilitating bona fide use of land identified for exploring the possibility of establishing a cement grinding unit (CGU) in Tiroda, Maharashtra.

Biocon fell 1.04%. The company said that it has fulfilled its payment obligation and has fully redeemed the Commercial Papers (CPs) of Rs 2,250 crore.

Kolte-Patil Developers surged 4.20% after the realtor announced that its board will meet on Monday, 27 February 2023 to consider the proposal to raise funds by way of issuance of debt securities on private placement basis.

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