Indices erase early gains

Benchmark indices erased early gains and are trading slightly lower in early trade. At 9:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 6.58 points or 0.01% to 57,308.19. The Nifty 50 index fell 9.2 points or 0.05% to 17,063.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.47% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.21%.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1255 shares rose and 1055 shares fell. A total of 85 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

L&T Finance Holdings declined 4%. The Board of the company considered the sale of 100% of the paid-up share capital of L&T Investment Management (LTIML), its wholly owned subsidiary and the asset manager of L&T Mutual Fund, to HSBC Asset Management (India) (HSBC AMC).

Apollo Micro Systems gained 3.26% after the company bagged orders worth Rs 5.72 crore from DRDO. The company has installed CCTV based Security Surveillance and Animal Monitoring Systems at Nehru Zoological park, Hyderabad.

Tega Industries rose 1.73%. The company said that its board of directors has given an in-principle approval for setting up an additional larger plant in Chile for an estimated cost of Rs 175 crore.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are mostly trading higher on Friday following gains overnight on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 closing at a new record. Some markets in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, are set to close early on Friday due to Christmas Eve.

Japan's November consumer inflation marked the biggest year-on-year rise in nearly two years on surging fuel costs. Japan's core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food but includes oil costs, rose 0.5% in November from a year earlier, government data showed.

US stocks rose for a third day on Thursday as investors looked past earlier jitters about the spread of the omicron Covid variant. Helping boost sentiment were new studies suggesting that omicron has a lower risk of hospitalization than other Covid variants. U.S. markets will remain closed today for the Christmas holiday.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer's Covid pill, the first oral antiviral drug against the virus. The FDA also authorized Merck's antiviral pill for Covid-19 on Thursday.

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