Indices drift lower in early trade on negative global stocks

The key equity benchmarks were trading with minor cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded a tad below the 17,800 level. FMCG, healthcare and media stocks were in demand while bank, IT and financial services shares declined. Asian stocks are trading lower.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 30.58 points or 0.05% to 59,689.16. The Nifty 50 index declined 23.25 points or 0.13% to 17,793.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.46% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.44%

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,835 shares rose and 1,075 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,196.19 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 131.94 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 September, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro declined 0.30%. Wipro and Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, announced a partnership in India to help corporate banks accelerate digital transformation by deploying Finastra's leading solutions.

Hero MotoCorp rose 0.84% while HPCL added 0.77%. Hero MotoCorp and HPCL have entered into a collaboration to establish charging infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the country. As a part of the initiative, the companies will set-up charging infrastructure for two-wheeled electric vehicles (EVs) across the country.

Tata Steel gained 0.47%. The Committee of Directors approved the allotment of 20,000 - Fixed rate, Unsecured, Redee0.57mable, Rated, Listed, Non-Convertible Debentures having face value Rs 10,00,000/- each, for cash, aggregating to Rs 2,000 crore, to identified investors on private placement basis.

Indian Hotels Company rose.0.60%. The hospitality group on Tuesday (20 September) announced the signing of its second hotel in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh under the SeleQtions brand.

NBCC (India) gained 1.77%. The company secured the total business of Rs. 274.77 crore during the month of August 2022.

Hilton Metal Forging added 0.37%. The company was recently awarded an order for Kalka-Shimla Jurisdiction of the Central Railways. The company already supplied two consignments of wheels & became one of the suppliers of this Railway Wheel requirement of Indian government.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading lower Wednesday, following Wall Street's negative lead ahead of the Federal Reserve's expected rate hike.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday cut its growth forecasts for developing Asia for 2022 and 2023 amid mounting risks from increased central bank monetary tightening, the fallout from the war in Ukraine and Covid-19 lockdowns in China.

The ADB now expects the area's combined economy, which includes China and India, to grow 4.3% this year, after previously trimming the forecast to 4.6% in July from 5.2% in April. For 2023, the ADB expects the region's economy to expand 4.9%, slower than the April and July forecasts of 5.3% and 5.2%, respectively, it said in the September edition of its flagship Asian Development Outlook report.

Wall Street ended Tuesday lower as the eve of a US Federal Reserve meeting expected to bring another large interest rate hike brought further evidence of the impact on corporate America from the inflation that the US central bank wants to tame.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the US Federal Reserve's policy-setting committee, began its two-day meeting yesterday. The outcome of the FOMC meeting is critical as it includes projections, which could set the path of monetary policy for the next few months. Traders are anticipating another sharp rate hike, third consecutive, from the US central bank to tame the rising inflation.

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