Sensex, Nifty trade flat; Godrej Properties drops 6%

Key equity indices traded sideways with tiny gains in mid morning trade. The Nifty hovered above the 17,550 level. Metal stocks saw buying while realty, media and auto shares declined.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 20.98 points or 0.04% at 58,809.27. The Nifty 50 index was up 7.5 points at 17,567.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.04% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.18%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,851 shares rose and 1341 shares fell. A total of 99 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index slipped 1.41% to 480.05, slipping for second trading session in a row. The realty index lost 3% in two days.

Prestige Estates Projects (down 1.61%), Macrotech Developers (down 1.42%), Brigade Enterprises (down 1.05%) and Phoenix Mills (down 0.68%) were top losers in realty space.

Godrej Properties slumped 6.66% after a foreign brokerage reportedly maintained a "sell" rating on the stock and cut its target price to Rs 1,424 from Rs 1,563. The brokerage reportedly stated that Godrej Properties (GPL)'s deal with DB Realty (DBR) lacks merit due to the direct purchase of a stake in the company. The brokerage is concerned over convoluted deal structure and risk-prone slum rehab projects of GPL. Both the deal with DBR and the foray into slum rehab project was unwarranted, it added.

The board of GPL on 3 February 2022 approved a potential investment in DBR and also the setting up of a special purpose vehicle along with DBR to jointly undertake slum rehabilitation and MHADA redevelopment projects. Following the news, shares of D B Realty hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 100.90.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading higher on Friday. Markets in Hong Kong returned to trade on Friday after being closed for most of this week due to the Lunar New Year holidays. Over in mainland China, markets remain closed on Friday for the holidays.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, dragged down by technology and social-media companies, as Facebook owner Meta Platforms plunged after a disappointing earnings report. Meta Platforms shares plunged after the company's quarterly profit fell short of expectations. The company also issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter. It was the biggest drop ever for the Facebook parent.

On the data front, investors are awaiting the U.S. Labor Department's nonfarm payroll count due Friday, which is seen as one of the major indicators of the how the U.S. economy is doing.

In commodities, front-month U.S. oil futures rose 2.3% to settle at $90.27 per barrel, the first time the benchmark had topped $90 since October 2014. Crude prices rose as demand for petroleum products surges while supply remains constrained.

In Europe, the Bank of England pressed ahead with raising borrowing costs Thursday, nudging up its policy rate to 0.5% from 0.25%. The European Central Bank kept its key interest rates unchanged, but ECB President Christine Lagarde signaled concern about inflation and opened the door to a possible rate hike later this year.

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