Sensex gains 119 pts, ITC hits record high

The domestic equity benchmarks continued to trade with minor gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded near the 17,600 level after hitting the day's low of 17,455.40 in morning trade. FMCG, metal and IT stocks were in demand while media, realty and consumer durables shares corrected. Trading was volatile on account of monthly options expiry.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India and U.S. Federal Reserve minutes revealed that they are willing to keep increasing the interest rates as inflation remains a concern.

At 11:29IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 119.57 points or 0.20% to 59,864.55. The Nifty 50 index gained 40.20 points or 0.23% to 17,594.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.18%

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,586 shares rose and 1,634 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.86% to 45,802.35. The index shed 0.31% in previous trading session.

ITC (up 1.73%), Radico Khaitan (up 1.23%), Emami (up 0.78%), Dabur India (up 0.57%), Nestle India (up 0.32%), United Breweries (up 0.22%) edged higher.

On the other hand, Varun Beverages (down 1.47%), Marico (down 1.13%) and Britannia Industries (down 0.55%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Sonata Software rallied 3.98% after the company's wholly owned subsidiary Sonata Software North America Inc. announced the signing of definitive agreement for acquiring 100% stake in Quant Systems Inc. The acquisition has been done for an upfront payment of $65 million. Acquisition cost involves a deferred achievement-based earn-out / pay-outs upto a maximum of $95 million payable over 2 years and certain additional payments on achievement of additional targets.

HG Infra Engineering gained 2.62% after the company has been declared as lowest bidder (L-1) by Rail Vikas Nigam, Chandigarh for construction project in Himachal Pradesh. The company said its bid project cost is Rs 466.11 crore and construction period of project is 30 months.

Ugro Capital advanced 3.25% after the NBFC announced that the investment and borrowing committee of the board will consider the proposal of fund raising on Saturday, 25 February 2023. The company added that the funds will be raised by way of issuance of non-convertible debentures and/or commercial papers through private placement basis.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks traded lower on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve released the minutes of its most recent meeting that showed central bank members are still committed to fighting inflation with rate hikes. Japanese market is closed today for the Emperor's birthday.

The Bank of Korea held its interest rates at 3.5%, a first in nearly a year of rate hikes, and in line with expectations.

Wall Street ended broadly lower on Wednesday, with investors cautious despite the latest guidance on rate policy from the US central bank showing few surprises.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve's January 31-February 1 meeting said that "almost all" Fed officials agreed to slow the pace of increases in interest rates to a quarter of a percentage point.

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