Sensex, Nifty at the low point of the day; financial stocks decline

The key equity indices edged lower and hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 18,200 level after hitting the day's high of 18,296.40 in the early trade. Financial stocks witnessed some bit of profit booking after advancing in the past three sessions.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 106.18 points or 0.17% to 61,078.97. The Nifty 50 index shed 25.20 points or 0.14% to 18,177.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.09%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,885 shares rose and 1,522 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged.

Investors kept a close eye on the results of the U.S. midterm elections. Traders also continued to look ahead to Thursday's report on US consumer price inflation. The inflation data would give clues about how much the U.S. Federal Reserve's rapid interest rate hikes are helping in cooling down the economy.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 1.71% to 15.85. The Nifty 24 November 2022 futures were trading at 18,244.60, at a premium of 67 points as compared with the spot at 18,177.60.

The Nifty option chain for the 24 November 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 23.4 lakh contracts at the 19,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 37.1 lakh contracts were seen at 17,000 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Services index shed 0.31% to 18,680.40. The index had gained 0.87% in the past three sessions.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (down 2.09%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1%), ICICI Bank (down 0.98%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 0.88%) and Bajaj Finance (down 0.75%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Shriram Transport Finance Company (down 0.66%), HDFC Life Insurance Company (down 0.41%), State Bank of India (down 0.4%), REC (down 0.39%) and Indian Energy Exchange (down 0.28%).

On the other hand, SBI Cards & Payment Services (up 1.33%), HDFC Asset Management Company (up 1.18%) and Power Finance Corporation (up 0.67%) moved up.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Godrej Consumer Products fell 1.59%. The company's consolidated net profit declined 25.1% to Rs 358.86 crore despite of 7% rise in net sales to Rs 3,364.45 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

NOCIL slipped 3.97%. The specialty chemical maker's consolidated net profit rose 19.1% to Rs 35.73 crore on 3.8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 389.23 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

MRF dropped 6.39%. The tyre maker's consolidated net profit slipped 31.3% to Rs 129.86 crore despite of 18.7% rise in net sales to Rs 5,826.30 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

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