Indices trade with modest losses; auto stocks decline

The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with moderate losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered below the 17,400 level. Realty, oil & gas and PSU bank shares saw buying demand while IT, auto and FMCG stocks saw a bit of selling pressure.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 309.71 points or 0.52% to 59,101.37. The Nifty 50 index lost 79.55 points or 0.46% to 17,371.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.10%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,723 shares rose and 1,503 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

The National Stock Exchange on Wednesday said it has received approval from markets regulator Sebi to launch the rupee-denominated NYMEX WTI crude oil and natural gas futures contracts in its commodity derivatives segment. The launch date for these contracts will be announced soon, NSE said in a release.

The addition of these contracts will expand NSE's product offering in the energy basket as well as its overall commodity segment. These contracts are designed to provide the market participants with a more efficient way to manage their price risk, the release said.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index declined 0.58% to 12,775.40. The index rose 1.47% in the past two trading sessions.

Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.89%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.18%), Tata Motors (down 0.93%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.86%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 0.55%), Eicher Motors (down 0.52%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.07%) slipped.

On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp (up 1.72%), Bharat Forge (up 0.96%) and Sona BLW Precision Forgings (up 0.55%) edged higher.

TVS Motor Company rose 0.08%. The company said that it has registered sales of 276,150 units in the month of February 2023 as against 281,714 units in the month of February 2022, recording a degrowth of 2% on YoY basis.

Global markets:

Asian stock markets traded mixed on Thursday, as investors braced for further hikes ahead as Federal Reserve speakers reiterated more hikes are needed to tame inflation.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday said the Fed will continue doing what we're doing until we finish the jobs, and I'm committed to doing that. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped 4% overnight.

In the US, all the major averages finished lower on Wednesday as bond yields rocketed higher.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led Wednesday's losses, falling 0.66%, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.47%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added just 5.14 points.

The rise In bond yields and concerns of a potentially larger-than-expected hike from the Federal Reserve have fueled investor concern in recent days.

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