Sensex down 102 pts; oil & gas shares decline

The domestic equity barometers traded with small losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,900 mark. Negative global cues dented investors sentiment. Oil & gas shares declined for the second straight day.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 102.39 points or 0.17% to 60,703.83. The Nifty 50 index shed 34.30 points or 0.19% to 17,859.15.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.73%

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,893 shares rose and 1,361 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index fell 0.85% to 7,148.70. The index declined 1.16% in two trading sessions.

Adani Total Gas (down 5%), Oil India (down 2.05%), Reliance Industries (down 1.02%), Petronet LNG (down 0.89%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (down 0.85%), GAIL (India) (down 0.63%) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 0.19%) advanced.

On the other hand, Gujarat State Petronet (up 1.75%) ,Indraprastha Gas (up 1.48%) and Aegis Logistics (up 1.38%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

United Breweries (UBL) slipped 4.82% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1.97 crore in Q3 FY23 from a net profit of Rs 90.79 crore in Q3 FY22. Net sales rose marginally to Rs 1,613.02 crore in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 1,582.79 crore recorded in the same period a year ago.

Aarti Surfactants surged 12.09% after the company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 3.98 crore in Q3 FY23 compared with net loss of Rs 2.23 crore in Q3 FY22. Net sales declined 1.2% to Rs 133.55 crore in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 135.15 crore in corresponding quarter last year.

Pfizer rose 0.29% after the company reported 5% rise in net profit to Rs 150.66 crore despite an 8% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 621.75 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22

Global markets:

Asian stocks were trading mostly lower on Friday, following moves on Wall Street as China's inflation data came in lower than expected. Consumer prices in the nation rose 2.1% in January compared to a year ago.

Japan's wholesale prices rose 9.5% in January from the previous year, slightly lower than the revised figure of 10.5% recorded in December 2022.

Australia's central bank on Friday said inflation remains high and hinted at further interest rates hikes. In its quarterly monetary statement, RBA observed global inflation is still very high but looks to have peaked. The Board expects that further increases in interest rates will be needed to ensure that the current period of high inflation is only temporary, said RBA.

US stocks closed lower Thursday as concerns over the Federal Reserve's future moves on monetary policy offset excitement around the latest batch of corporate earnings.

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