Market drifts lower in early trade, breadth weak

The domestic equity barometers are trading lower in early trade tracking negative global stocks. The Nifty traded a tad below the 17,750 mark. Pharma, healthcare and FMCG stocks edged higher while PSU bank, oil & gas and IT shares declined .

At 09:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 286.96 points or 0.47% to 60,385.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 79.40 points or 0.45% to 17,747.25.

Adani Enterprises (down 3.81%), Eicher Motors (down 1.35%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) (down 1.24%), Grasim Industries (down 1.22%) and IndusInd Bank (down 1.18%) dragged the Nifty lower.

Bajaj Auto (up 0.87%), Coal India (up 0.72%), Tata Consumer Products (up 0.61%), Britannia Industries (up 0.41%) and Divi's Laboratories (up 0.39%) outperformed.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.43% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.35%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,011 shares rose and 1,599 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 525.80 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 235.23 crore in the Indian equity market on 21 February, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharat Electronics (BEL) fell 0.42%. BEL has signed an MoU with Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), DRDO, for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

Biocon shed 0.18%. The company has issued and allotted unlisted, secured, rated, redeemable, non-convertible debentures of face value of Rs one lakh each on private placement basis in three Series.

Sapphire Foods India declined 0.48%. The board of directors of Gamma Pizzakraft (Overseas) Private Limited (GPOPL), wholly-owned subsidiary of Sapphire Foods India, has considered and approved subscription of upto 81,914 equity shares of Gamma Island Food Private Limited (GIFPL), subsidiary of GPOPL and step-down subsidiary of the company, for a total consideration of upto MVR 18,840,220.

Aurionpro Solutions fell 0.60%. Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications and marketplaces, announced a partnership with Integro Technologies a subsidiary of Aurionpro, the pioneer provider of high-end lending platforms, to offer Integro's SmartLender Trade Limits solution alongside its own Trade Innovation solution.

Bajaj Steel Industries rose 1.18%. The company has executed Slump Sale Agreement with the VSA Business Solutions Private Limited, Nagpur with regard to sale of Superpack division. The rest of the transactions pertaining to such sale are expected to be completed on or before 31 March 2023.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday as investors digested key economic data across the region. Japan's producer prices index rose 1.6% on an annualized basis, slightly higher than December's figure of 1.5%. The PPI measures the average movements of prices received by domestic producers for goods and services sold.

New Zealand's central bank has raised interest rates by 50 basis points from 4.25% to 4.75, in line with expectations. In a release, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand indicated that interest rates could still rise, to ensure inflation returns to its target range over the medium term.

U.S. stocks dropped Tuesday as higher rates continue to pressure market sentiment, and the latest batch of retail earnings raised concerns about the state of the consumer.

The Fed on Wednesday is scheduled to release the minutes from its January 31-February 1 meeting. The central bank hiked rates by 25 basis points at that gathering.

US business activity unexpectedly rebounded in February, reaching its highest level in eight months, according to a survey on Tuesday. S&P Global said its flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 50.2 this month from a final reading of 46.8 in January.

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