The Sensex and the Nifty continued trading with modest losses in afternoon trade. Investors turned cautious ahead of the Union Budget on 1 February 2020. At 13:28 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 121.05 points or 0.29% at 41,202.76. The Nifty 50 index fell 39.35 points or 0.32% at 12,130.50.
The broader market traded mixed. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.15%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1089 shares rose and 1225 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 28 stocks advanced while 22 stocks declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Grasim Industries (up 2.60%), Nestle India (up 1.70%), TCS (up 1.39%), HCL Technologies (up 1.36%) and Vedanta (up 0.81%) were the top gainers.
Coal India (down 4.40%), ONGC (down 4.15%), NTPC (down 3.80%), Tata Motors (down 3.21%) and Power Grid Corporation of India (down 2.54%) were the top losers.
Among Nifty stocks, Larsen & Toubro (down 0.39%), Asian Paints (down 0.69%) and Axis Bank (down 0.75%) will announce their Q3 earnings today.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises rose 0.23% to Rs 284.60 after consolidated net profit fell 37.87% to Rs 349.43 crore on 5.45% decline in net sales to Rs 2,048.65 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.
Bharti Airtel slipped 0.26% to Rs 510. The government approved increasing the limit of foreign investment upto 100% of the paid up capital of the company.
Foreign Markets:
European markets opened higher while Asian markets were trading mostly higher on Wednesday. Investors took stock of the spread of a new strain of coronavirus from China and weighed the possible consequences of a global pandemic.
The Bank of Korea said Wednesday the country's economy grew 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter as compared with three months earlier. That was the fastest expansion since the third quarter of 2017, beating an estimated 0.8% growth from a media poll.
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first U.S. case of a mysterious virus that has infected hundreds in China. Health officials have also confirmed cases in Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Public health officials have confirmed more than 400 cases of the illness, which has evoked memories of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in China. Health officials have also confirmed cases in Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
In other news, market focus in the region will continue to be on the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. In a keynote speech Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly urged other countries to put their own citizens first.
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