Sensex, Nifty trade with deep cuts; media shares slide

The key equity benchmarks continued to extend losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty dropped below the 23,150 mark. Media shares slipped after gaining for the past trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 920.32 points or 1.19% to 76,455.75. The Nifty 50 index slipped 319.70 points or 1.36% to 23,111.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slumped 4.07% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 4.28%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 529 shares rose and 3,513 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 7.10% to 15.98.

Economy:

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $5.7 billion to $634.59 billion for the week ended January 3, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday showed.

Foreign currency assets decreased by $6.441 billion to $545.48 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

Gold reserves increased by $824 million to $67.092 billion during the week. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $58 million to $17.815 billion, the RBI said.

Indias reserve position with the IMF was down by $18 million at $4.199 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index slipped 4.22% to 1,670.10. The index added 21.89% in past trading sessions.

Nazara Technologies (down 7.44%), Den Networks (down 5.61%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 4.6%), PVR Inox (down 4.54%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 4.34%), Sun TV Network (down 4.27%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 3.52%), Dish TV India (down 2.48%), Saregama India (down 1.23%) and Tips Music (down 1.03%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 2.76% to 6.959 as compared with previous close 6.770.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 86.5000, compared with its close of 86.0400 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2025 settlement rose 0.37% to Rs 78,685.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.23% to 109.90.

The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.46% to 4.796.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2025 settlement added $1.64 or 2.06% to $81.40 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

G R Infraprojects declined 4.84%. The company said that it has emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) for a major road construction project that was floated by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

Afcom Holdings fell 1.73%. The company announced that it has entered into a long-term contract with the global airline Ethihad to operate regular schedule flights between Chennai-Male sector to move their cargo.

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