Sensex slides 282 pts, Nifty below 18,650 mark

The headline equity indices continued to trade in a narrow range with moderate losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 18,650 mark. PSU bank, oil & gas and FMCG stocks edged higher while IT, media and pharma shares witnessed a bit of a selling pressure.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 282.24 points or 0.45% to 62,552.36 . The Nifty 50 index lost 85.25 points or 0.46% to 18,615.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.60% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.34%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,542 shares rose, and 1,865 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) started its bi-monthly policy review with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting yesterday. The bi-monthly policy review is expected to come out on 7 December 2022. More than the quantum of rate hikes, domestic investors would watch out for RBI's commentary as it ramps up its efforts to curb inflation and push growth.

On the political front, various exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the BJP in Gujarat and a dead heat in Himachal Pradesh where most pollsters gave an edge to the ruling party over the Congress. The counting of votes in both states will take place on December 8. Elections for the Himachal Pradesh assembly took place on November 12, while polling in Gujarat happened in two phases on December 1 and 5.

Gainers & Losers:

Adani Enterprises (up 2.35%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.90%), Bajaj Finance (up 0.50%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.50%) and Britannia Industries (up 0.36%) were top Nifty gainers.

Tata Steel (down 2.72%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.10%), Eicher Motors (down 1.78%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.74%) and UPL (down 1.74%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Consumer Care rallied 3.25%. The meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 09 December 2022 to consider and approve a proposal for buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of the company.

Kalpataru Power Transmission declined 0.94%. The civil construction company on Monday announced that its board will meet on Thursday, 8 December 2022 to consider the proposal of fund raising by way of issuance of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

Ratnamani Metals & Tubes rose 0.21%. The iorn & steel producer said that it has recently received new orders aggregating to Rs 262.52 crore. The company has bagged domestic orders aggregating to Rs 233.26 crore. It has also secured export orders aggregating to Rs 29.26 crore.

Sterlite Technologies added 0.20%. The company announced that its board has approved the appointment of Tushar Shroff, as the chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel of the company with effect from 6 December 2022.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after Wall Street sold off overnight on fears that the Fed will keep increasing interest rates. Meanwhile, Beijing city announced negative Covid tests will no longer be required to enter most public areas, malls or residential areas, while bars and so-called KTV lounges, or karaoke bars. Several cities in China relaxed Covid testing rules in recent days.

US stocks fell Monday on fears that the Federal Reserve may continue tightening until it tips the economy into a recession. Shares of Tesla slid on reports of a production cut in China.

US services industry activity unexpectedly picked up in November. The ISM said its non-manufacturing PMI increased to 56.5 last month from 54.4 in October, which was the lowest reading since May 2020.

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