Indices trade with major losses; media shares slides for 3rd day

The key equity benchmarks traded with substantial losses in the early afternoon trade after US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports starting Monday. This move is expected to be in addition to further metal duties, which are anticipated to be disclosed later in the week. The Nifty traded below the 23,400 level.

Media shares extended gains for the third straight day.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 629.02 points or 0.81% to 77,231.17. The Nifty 50 index lost 199.60 points or 0.85% to 23,360.35.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.01%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.35%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,002 shares rose and 2,913 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

Indian Rupee hit a fresh record low against the US dollar on Monday. The currency opened at 87.9400 and touched a fresh all-time low of 87.9525 and is currently trading at 87.7650.

Economy:

India's forex reserves raised USD 1.05 billion to USD 630.607 billion for the week ended January 31, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by USD 5.574 billion to USD 629.557 billion. This is the second consecutive week of an increase in the reserves, which have otherwise been on a declining trend for the last few weeks due to revaluation along with possible forex market interventions by RBI to help reduce volatility in the rupee, as stated by the Governor in the RBI monetary policy meeting.

Politics:

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Delhi legislative assembly elections with 48 out of 70 seats, marking its return to power in the capital after 27 years, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured 22 seats. A party that wins more than the halfway mark of 35 seats can form the government.

AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia lost seats to BJP candidates. The BJP's campaign focused on financial assistance for women and senior citizens, subsidies on essential goods, and infrastructure development. AAPs vote share declined by approximately 10% compared to the previous election. The Congress party failed to secure any seats for the third consecutive time but saw a slight increase in its vote share.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, advanced 6.63% to 14.59. The Nifty 27 February 2025 futures were trading at 23,430.30, at a premium of 69.95 points as compared with the spot at 23,360.35.

The Nifty option chain for the 13 February 2025 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 129.3 lakh contracts at the 24,000 strike price. Maximum put OI of 75.2 lakh contracts was seen at 22,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index declined 2.64% to 1,578.95. The index dropped 4.35% in the previous three consecutive trading sessions.

Saregama India (down 4.67%), Sun TV Network (down 4.11%), Tips Music (down 4.08%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 3.33%) and Network 18 Media & Investments (down 2.82%) Dish TV India (down 2.1%), Nazara Technologies (down 1.38%), PVR Inox (down 0.49%), Den Networks (down 0.29%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Astra Microwave Products declined 4%. The companys consolidated net profit jumped 9.3% to Rs 47 crore on an 11.9% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 259 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.

Alembic shed 0.58%. The companys reported a 163% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 26.09 crore on a 47.3% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 57.92 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.

KPI Green Energy was locked in a lower circuit of 5%. The company said that its subsidiary, Sun Drops Energia, received letters of award to develop solar power projects with a cumulative capacity of 15.90 MW.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News