Broader mkt underperforms; media shares under pressure

The headline equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in the morning trade as investors reacted to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, lowering it to 6.25% from 6.50%. This marked the RBI's first rate cut since May 2020. The Nifty traded below the 23,550 mark. Media shares extended losses for the two consecutive trading sessions.

At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 203.56 points or 0.25% to 77,864.07. The Nifty 50 index fell 74.90 points or 0.32% to 23,534.50.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.66% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.59%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,236 shares rose and 2,210 shares fell. A total of 181 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Friday cut the repo ratethe rate at which the RBI lends to other banksby 25 basis points to 6.25% after keeping it unchanged for two years. This is the first rate cut initiated by the RBI in five years, the last one being in May 2020. RBI, however, continues with the neutral monetary policy stance and remains unambiguously focused on a durable alignment of inflation with the target while supporting growth. The decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4% within a band of +/- 2% while supporting growth, the central bank noted. This was the first RBI policy under the new Governor Sanjay Malhotra and also the first RBI MPC meeting after the Union Budget 2025-2026 was presented on February 1.

Result Today:

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.08%), LIC (down 1.02%), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (down 0.74%), NHPC (up 0.10%), Oil India (down 1.79%), Wockhardt (down 2.60%), 3M India (down 0.85%), Archean Chemical Industries (up 1.78%), AIA Engineering (down 0.76%), Akzo Nobel India (down 0.19%), Alembic (down 1.93%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.23%), Astra Microwave Products (up 5.00%), Balrampur Chini Mills (down 0.73%), Balu Forge Industries (up 3.12%), Borosil (down 1.83%), Caplin Point Laboratories (down 0.12%), Century Plyboards (up2.43%), Chemplast Sanmar (down 1.65%), Cholamandalam Financial Holdings (up 0.27%), Delhivery (down 2.53%), Dreamfolks Services (down 0.46%) will announce their quarterly earnings later today.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index lost 1.95% to 1,606.45. The index fell 1.94% in two consecutive trading sessions.

PVR Inox (down 3.97%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 3.12%), Tips Music (down 2.25%), Nazara Technologies (down 1.05%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 0.65%), Sun TV Network (down 0.65%), Saregama India (down 0.56%), Dish TV India (down 0.23%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 0.06%) and Den Networks (down 0.03%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Gensol Engineering added 3.31% after the company said that it has been awarded a contract by a renowned public sector undertaking for the development of a 245 MW solar PV project at the prestigious Khavda RE Power Park in Gujarat.

Britannia Industries rose 0.11%. The companys consolidated net profit increased 4.6% to Rs 581.69 crore on a 6.5% jump in net sales to Rs 4,463.30 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.

Zomato added 1.29% after the companys board approved the change in the name from Zomato to Eternal. The companys corporate website will transition from zomato.com to eternal.com. It will also change its stock ticker from ZOMATO to ETERNAL.

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