Nifty below 23,750 mark, consumer durables shares tumble

The headline equity benchmark traded near the flatline with some negative points in the mid-afternoon trade as the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting began today, with expectations of an interest rate cut. The Nifty traded below the 23,750 mark. Consumer Durables shares slipped after advancing for the previous four consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 157.55 points or 0.20% to 78,416.21. The Nifty 50 index shed 2.65 points or 0.01% to 23,736.25.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.89% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.51%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,627 shares rose and 1,249 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

The Indian rupee hit a record low against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency opened at 87.13 and slipped further to 87.49 against the greenback in early trades. It was currently trading at 87.46.

Economy:

In January, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index stood at 56.5, indicating a sharp rate of expansion in business activity compared to the previous month. However, the headline figure declined from 59.3 in December to its lowest level since November 2022. This drop suggests a slowdown in the pace of growth within the sector.

India's private sector economy lost some growth momentum in January, as a quicker increase in factory production was more than offset by a softer expansion in service activity. The HSBC India Composite Output Index dropped from 59.2 in December to a 14-month low of 57.7. Despite the decline, the latest figure remained above the long-run series average, indicating that the economy is still experiencing a robust upturn.

Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC, commented, "Indias services sector lost growth momentum in January, although the PMI remained well above the 50-breakeven level. The business activity and new business PMI indices eased to their lowest levels since November 2022 and November 2023, respectively. That said, new export business partly countered the downtrend and continued to rebound from a dip in late-2024, in line with official data, which showed Indias service exports shining in December and capturing a larger share of global trade."

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Consumer Durables index shed 0.69% to 38,947.75. The index jumped 6.13% in the past four consecutive trading sessions.

Titan Company (down 2.63%), Whirlpool of India (down 2.3%), Blue Star (down 0.83%), Havells India (down 0.55%), and Rajesh Exports (down 0.53%) were the top losers. Among the other losers were Amber Enterprises India (down 0.05%).

On the other hand, Century Plyboards (India) (up 2.54%), V-Guard Industries (up 2.21%) and Kajaria Ceramics (up 2.08%) added.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.53% to 6.773 as compared with previous close 6.780.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.4650, compared with its close of 87.4650 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 April 2025 settlement added 1.03% to Rs 84,444.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.27% to 107.71.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.62% to 4.485.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for the April 2025 settlement lost 24 cents, or 0.31%, to $75.96 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Seamec rose 2.24% after the company said that it has entered into a bimco charter party with Safeen Al Behar Company, Saudi Arabia, for charter hire of its vessel 'SEAMEC SWORDFISH' for working in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE.

V-Mart Retail added 1.18% after the company reported a net profit of Rs 72 crore in Q3 FY25, zoomed 154% as against Rs 28 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 15% year on year (YoY) to Rs 1,027 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.

Happiest Minds Technologies fell 1.26%. The company reported a 1.2% rise in net profit to Rs 50.10 crore on a 1.8% increase in revenue to Rs 530.81 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY24.

Triveni Engineering & Industries shed 0.76%. The company reported a consolidated net profit tumbled 69.02% to Rs 42.57 crore in Q3 FY25, compared to Rs 137.40 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) declined 3.27% YoY to Rs 1,268.32 crore during the quarter.

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