Benchmarks edge lower ahead of RBI policy; Nifty below 22,500 level

The headline equity indices traded with minor losses in early trade. Investors were cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy decision later today. The Nifty traded below the 22,500 level. Pharma, PSU Bank and realty stocks were in demand while metal, IT and oil & gas shares declined.

At 09:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 156.74 points or 0.20% to 74,074.71. The Nifty 50 index shed 36.30 points or 0.16% to 22,460.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.05%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,580 shares rose and 1,178 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,136.47 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 893.11 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 April, provisional data showed.

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kicked off its 3-day meeting deliberating interest rates and analysing the state of the economy on 3 April 2024 and will end today 5, April 2024. While the RBI is widely expected to keep rates on hold, any signals on inflation and economic growth will be closely watched.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Finance slipped 0.60%. The companys Assets under management (AUM) grew by 34% to approximately Rs 330,400 crore as of 31 March 2024 as compared to Rs 247,379 crore as of 31 March 2023. AUM in Q4 FY24 grew by approximately Rs 19,400 crore.

Hero MotoCorp shed 0.49%. The company has received assessment orders/ demand notices pertaining to six assessment years from the Income Tax Department. The company has received the orders / notices pertaining to six assessment years, amounting to a tax demand of Rs. 308.65 crore and interest thereon of Rs. 296.22 crore. This is on account of certain disallowances, for the assessment years 2013-14 to 2017-18 and 2019-20.

UltraTech Cement declined 0.64%. The company announced the completion of 100 MW solar energy project under the Group Captive scheme in the state of Rajasthan. This is the companys first project for sourcing power for its captive consumption from the inter-state transmission network.

LTIMindtree shed 0.31%. Aforza, the leading cloud and mobile solution specifically built for the Consumer Products industry, and LTIMindtree, announced a strategic partnership to deliver digital transformation in CRM & TPM across the consumer products industry.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 0.03% to 7.096 as compared with previous close 7.094.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.4325, compared with its close of 83.3900 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement shed 0.43% to Rs 69,404.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.20% to 104.33.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.14% to 4.313.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement added 30 cents or 0.33% to $90.95 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading lower on Friday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid rate cut uncertainty, and sharp rise in crude oil prices. Financial markets in Mainland China, and Taiwan are closed for Qingming Festival on Friday.

US stock indexes fell more than 1% on Thursday as Federal Reserve officials took a cautious approach in comments on the outlook for interest rate cuts, and investors braced for Friday's US monthly jobs report.

On Thursday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari cast doubts on Thursday over the central bank cutting rates at all if inflation remained sticky.

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