Market trading with small gains; breadth strong

Key benchmark indices are trading with small gains in early trade. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 46.24 points or 0.09% at 51,750.07. The Nifty 50 index was up 12.45 points or 0.08% at 15,221.35.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.22%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.72%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1259 shares rose and 655 shares fell. A total of 86 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

Bharti Airtel slipped 0.03%. Bharti Airtel said that it will acquire a Warburg Pincus affiliate's 20% equity stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for a total consideration of about Rs 3126 crore which will be discharged primarily via issuance of 36.47 million equity shares of Bharti Airtel at a price of Rs 600 per share; and up to Rs 1037.80 crore in cash.

The proposed transaction is part of Airtel's strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group. A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia allows Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers so as to promote One Home strategy.

GAIL (India) surged 4.46%. The company said its share buyback will open on 25 February 2021 and close on 10 March 2021.

Phillips Carbon Black gained 3.11%. The company has commissioned two specialty black lines at Palej, Gujarat for production of wide range of specialty black products totalling about 32,000 MTPA to service the growing needs of its customers.

VA Tech Wabag rose 1%. VA Tech Wabag has completed the Financial Closure for its Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) project received from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).

Dish TV India advanced 3.2%. The company's board approved raising funds through permissible modes and issue of permissible securities, for an amount upto Rs. 1,000 crores, in one or more tranches.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on Thursday, as investors watched movements in mainland Chinese stocks as they returned from the Lunar New Year holiday. Lingering pandemic concerns pushed against stronger economic data, and with little firm direction from Wall Street.

In US, the Nasdaq closed lower while the S&P 500 was little changed on Wednesday as investors rotated out of technology shares and concerns about inflation added some pressure on stocks.

Back home, domestic equity indices corrected on Wednesday as mixed global cues triggered profit selling. The S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 400.34 points or 0.77% at 51,703.83. The Nifty 50 index lost 104.55 points or 0.68% at 15,208.90.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,008.20 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,283.38 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 February, provisional data showed.

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