Barometers drift lower in early trade; breadth strong

The key equity benchmarks traded with small losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 18,200 mark. Negative Asian cues dented the investor sentiments. PSU bank, realty and bank shares advanced while pharma, health care and FMCG stocks declined.

At 09:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 98.03 points or 0.16% to 61,069.76. The Nifty 50 index added 28.95 points or 0.16% to 18,168.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.22% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.35%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,653 shares rose and 714 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 212.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 743.35 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 January 2023, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Dabur India rose 0.81%. Dabur has acquired 51% equity shareholding of Badshah Masala Private Limited from its shareholders upon fulfillment of terms and conditions as per SPA and SNA and the transaction has been completed on 2 January 2023.

HFCL advanced 1.65%. The company along with its material subsidiary, HTL Limited, has received the purchase orders aggregating to Rs 95.38 crore from Reliance Projects & Property Management Services for supply of optical fiber cables to one of the leading private telecom operators of the country.

PSP Projects jumped 5.05%. The company has emerged as lowest bidder (L1) for a Government project worth Rs 1,364.47 crore (excluding GST) of 'Construction of State of the art High Rise Office Building' at Surat, Gujarat for Surat Municipal Corporation.

Global markets:

Asian stocks were trading lower to commence the first trading week for the year.

Singapore's economy saw full-year growth of 3.8% for 2022, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Tuesday. The economy grew 2.2% in the fourth quarter compared with a year ago, the slowest pace since mid-2021.

US stocks were shut on Monday on account of New Year holiday.

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