Sensex slides 149 pts; realty shares drop

The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below 22,450 mark after hitting the days high of 22,558.05 in the morning trade. Realty shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session. Trading was volatile due to the weekly Nifty50 F&O series expiry today.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 148.77 points or 0.20% to 73,878.84. The Nifty 50 index fell 62.05 points or 0.28% to 22,408.45.

The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.65%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,499 shares rose and 2,406 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Indias retail inflation eased to a seven-month low of 3.61% in February 2025, down from 4.31% in January, as food price pressures softened, according to government data released on Wednesday. This brings inflation below the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) medium-term target of 4% for the first time since August 2024.

Meanwhile, Indias industrial output growth picked up to 5% year-on-year in January 2025, compared to 3.2% in December 2024.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index fell 1.66% to 801.55. The index dropped 3.27% in two consecutive trading sessions.

Brigade Enterprises (down 3.03%), Phoenix Mills (down 2.34%), Raymond (down 2.12%), Macrotech Developers (down 1.53%), Godrej Properties (down 1.51%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.5%), Sobha (down 1.15%) and DLF (down 0.29%) declined.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.16% to 6.802 as compared with previous close 6.791.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.0300, compared with its close of 87.2250 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 April 2025 settlement rose 0.10% to Rs 86,771.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.01% to 103.60.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.05% to 4.314.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2025 settlement gained 13 cents, or 0.18% to $71.08 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Pondy Oxides & Chemicals slipped 3.98%. The company announced that it has incorporated a Limited Liability Partnership in the name of POCL Recycle City LLP in the State of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.

JSW Energy shed 0.17%. The company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, JSW Neo Energy has entered into a share purchase agreement and acquired 100% shares of Virya Infrapower

GP Eco Solutions India hit an upper circuit of 2% after the company announced that it has secured an EPC turnkey contract for a 128 MWp ground-mounted solar power project valued at over Rs 300 crore.

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