Barometers trade with modest cuts; Nifty below 17,900

The headline equity barometers traded near the day's low with modest losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 17,900 level. Media shares snapped its three days gaining streak.

At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 246.08 points or 0.41% to 60,015.10. The Nifty 50 index shed 79.70 points or 0.44% to 17,876.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.06%.

The market breadth turned negative. On the BSE, 1,650 shares rose, and 1,902 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's annual wholesale price index (WPI) inflation for the month of December 2022 eased to 4.95%, at a 22-month low, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles and crude petroleum. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85% in November 2022 and 14.27% in December 2021.

"Decline in the rate of inflation in December 2022 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals & chemical products", the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.316 from its close of 7.299 recorded in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 81.6625, compared with its close of 81.38 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement added 0.13% to Rs 56,399.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.23% to 102.44.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.37% to 3.498.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2023 settlement lost 73 cents or 0.86% to $84.55 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index slipped 1.46% to 1,943.65. The index advanced 1.83% in past three trading sessions.

Inox Leisure (down 4.37%), PVR (down 4.11%), Nazara Technologies (down 2.1%), Dish TV India (down 1.65%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 0.59%) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 0.28%) declined.

On the other hand, Network 18 Media & Investments (up 1.64%), TV18 Broadcast (up 1.37%) and Sun TV Network (up 0.53%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Federal Bank advanced 1.66% after the private bank posted a 54.03% surge in standalone net profit to Rs 803.61 crore on a 26.5% increase in total income to Rs 4,967.25 in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) fell 0.48%. The EPC major said that L&T Construction's Buildings & Factories (B&F) Fast Business has secured a significant repeat order from commercial developer to construct two towers with commercial office space in Hyderabad.

Granules India declined 1.07%. The pharmaceutical company said that its Gagillapur facility located at Hyderabad has completed the United States Food and Drug Administration's (USFDA) pre-approval inspection (PAI) with 3 observations.

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