Sensex down 41 pts; PSU banks slide

The key equity indices traded with small losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded near the 17,150 mark. PSU bank shares snapped its two days gaining streak. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 41.25 points or 0.07% to 58,173.34. The Nifty 50 index lost 2.75 points or 0.02% to 17,149.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.39% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.06%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,646 shares rose and 1,582 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged.

The US Fed hiked rates by 25 basis points, which is in line with the market expectations amid turmoil in the US banking sector.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index lost 0.67% to 3,683.40. The index advanced 2.5% in the past two trading sessions.

Bank of India (down 1.54%), UCO Bank (down 1.21%), Indian Bank (down 1.13%), Union Bank of India (down 0.91%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 0.86%), State Bank of India (down 0.83%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.81%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 0.6%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 0.58%) and Punjab National Bank (down 0.52%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

G R Infraprojects jumped 7.05% after Dibang Power consortium, a joint venture between the company and Patel Engineering, has emerged as lowest bidder (L-1) for construction of civil works project in Arunachal Pradesh.

Chalet Hotels rose 0.58% after the company executed share purchase agreement to acquire 82.28% stake in Dukes Retreat in Khandala for consideration of Rs 81.75 crore.

Kalpataru Power Transmission (KPTL) added 0.13%. The company along with its international subsidiaries has secured new orders aggreagating to Rs 2,477 crore. The civil construction company bagged orders worth Rs 1,181 crore in India and overseas markets in the transmission and distribution (T&D) business. It also received EPC projects in the water business for Rs 1,296 crore.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Thursday, following Wall Street's reaction overnight after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked rates by another 25 basis points.

US stocks end sharply lower on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected 25 basis point policy hike. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell re-stated his commitment to curbing inflation, including the possibility of more interest rate rises.

The Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points, in line with Wall Street's predictions. The increase takes the benchmark federal funds rate to a target range between 4.75%-5%.

The Federal Open Market Committee said in a post-meeting statement that it will closely monitor incoming information and assess the implications for monetary policy. Fed projections call for just one more hike this year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the FDIC was not considering providing blanket insurance for banking deposits. Yellen made the remarks at a hearing of a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee. Yellen said the administration was not considering expanding bank deposit guarantees beyond the current limit of $250,000, as per reports.

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