Sensex down 256 pts; Nifty below 18,350; Auto shares decline

The key equity indices traded with moderate losses in mid-morning trade. Negative global cues dented investor sentiments. The Nifty slipped below the 18,350 mark after hitting day's high of 18,440.95 in early trade. Barring the Nifty Oil & Gas index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the red.

At 11:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 255.91 points or 0.41% to 61,543.12. The Nifty 50 index lost 86.80 points or 0.47% to 18,328.10.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 1.22% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.72%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,258 shares rose and 2,086 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index slipped 1.34% to 12,739.90. The index has declined 2.04% in two trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty Auto index, Bharat Forge (down 3.41%), Tube Investments of India (down 3.17%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (down 2.22%), MRF (down 2.12%), Bosch (down 2.08%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.06%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.8%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.42%), Samvardhana Motherson International (down 1.4%) and Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.33%) were the losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Engineers India advanced 2.05% after the company announced that it has secured an assignment for providing owner's engineer services for 30,000 MTPA Polysilicon and 500 MTPA Monosilane Project.

AIA Engineering declined 3.03%. The company has executed share purchase agreement with Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions to acquire 26% stake in Clean Max Meridius (CMPL) for setting up a captive Hybrid (solar & wind) power project in Gujarat.

Reliance Industries rose 0.48% Reliance Digital Health, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has signed definitive agreements with Synchron Inc. to acquire 2.25% stake (on a fully diluted basis) in Synchron Inc. as part of its Series C financing round.

Meanwhile, Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG arm and a fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures, on Thursday (15 December) launched its indigenous made-for-India consumer packaged goods brand, Independence, in Gujarat.

Global markets:

Asian stocks were trading mostly lower after hawkish signals from central banks sparked a rout in US and European equities.

The au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a seasonally adjusted 48.8 in December from a final 49.0 in the month of November, marking the lowest reading since October 2020.

US stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as fears intensified that the Federal Reserve's battle against inflation using aggressive interest rate hikes could lead to a recession.

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