Indices trade with limited losses; positive market breadth

The domestic equity benchmarks edged lower in early trade as the bourses witnessed across the board selling in index pivotals. The Nifty traded below the 17,900 mark. Pharma, FMCG and IT stocks declined while auto and metal stocks managed to trade in the green.

At 09:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 201.56 points or 0.33% to 60,830.70. The Nifty 50 index lost 58.30 points or 0.33% to 17,871.55.

Hindustan Unilever (down 1.54%), Sun Pharma (down 1.23%), Larsen & Toubro (down 1.15%), TCS (down 1.06%) and Wipro (down 1.05%) were the top Nifty losers.

Meanwhile, Eicher Motors (up 3.32%), Adani Enterprises (up 2.46%), HDFC Life (up 1.25%), Reliance Industries (up 0.92%) and Tata Steel (up 0.82%) staged outperformance.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.07%

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,402 shares rose and 1,160 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment took a hit after stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation readings ramped up fears of more hawkish moves from the Federal Reserve. The U.S. consumer price index data for January showed that inflation remained resilient despite a slew of interest rate hikes by the Fed. Regional central banks are also expected to raise rates to keep up with the Fed, further tightening the liquidity conditions.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) shed 0.37%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 11665.24 crore in Q3 FY23 as compared to net profit of Rs 11636.67 crore in Q3 FY22. Total income increased to Rs 171041.32 crore from Rs 147854.38 crore.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise fell 1.27%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 162.31 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 243.25 crore in Q3 FY22. Total income increased to Rs 4298.94 crore from Rs 3656.08 crore.

GMR Airports Infrastructure rose 0.66%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 105 crore in Q3 FY23 as compared to net profit of Rs 58 crore in Q3 FY22. Net revenue decreased to Rs 1253 crore from Rs 1320 crore.

Bata India was up 0.02%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 83.10 crore in Q3 FY23 as compared to net profit of Rs 72.32 crore in Q3 FY22. Total income increased to Rs 907.8 crore from Rs 854.8 crore.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.16% to 7.359 from 7.371 previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.8750, compared with its close of 82.7800 during the previous trading session

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement declined 0.29% to Rs 56,586.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.57% to 3.740.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.11% to 103.34.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2023 settlement lost 48 cents or 0.56% to $85.10 a barrel.

Global markets:

Asian stocks traded lower on Wednesday after the release of U.S. inflation data that came in hotter-than-expected.

Wall Street stocks ended mixed on Tuesday after US consumer price data for January offered little to change expectations about the Federal Reserve's path forward on interest rate hikes.

Inflation in the US continued to surge in January, with the latest data showing higher-than-expected increases both year-on-year and month-on-month. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 6.4% from January 2022.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News