Benchmarks trade almost flat; Nifty below 16K

The benchmark indices were trading near the flat line in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading below the 16,000 mark. Healthcare, pharma and consumer durables shares advanced while PSU banks, metals and IT stocks declined.

At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 3.72 points or 0.01% to 53,510.43. The Nifty 50 index fell 9.55 points or 0.06% to 15,957.10.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.45%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,322 shares rose and 1,820 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 15.18% in June 2022 compared with 12.07% in June 2021.

"The high rate of inflation in June, 2022 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, chemicals & chemical products, food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year," the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

The WPI grew 15.88% in May 2022, while the figure for April was 15.38%. WPI for the month of July 2022 will release on 16 August 2022.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.02% to 18.33. The Nifty 28 July 2022 futures were trading at 15,970.30, at a premium of 13.2 points compared with the spot at 15,957.10.

The Nifty option chain for the 28 July 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 24 lakh contracts at the 17,000 strike prices. Maximum Put OI of 29.5 lakh contracts was seen at 15,500 strike price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.85% to 2,609.05. The index rose 0.07% in the previous session.

Among the components of the Nifty PSU Bank index, Canara Bank (down 3.32%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 2.25%), Union Bank of India (down 2.15%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.8%) and Bank of Maharashtra (down 1.23%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Punjab National Bank (down 1.14%), Indian Bank (down 1.03%), State Bank of India (down 0.92%), UCO Bank (down 0.88%) and Bank of India (down 0.87%).

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Chemicals rose 0.58%. The company said that CARE Ratings has reaffirmed the ratings assigned to the bank facilities of the company. The rating on the long-term bank facilities has been reaffirmed at 'CARE AA+; Stable' while the rating on the short-term bank facilities has been reaffirmed at 'CARE A1+'. The ratings assigned to the bank facilities of TCL continue to factor in the strong parentage of the Tata Group, TCL's market share in the global soda ash industry, geographical diversification with presence in India, North America, Europe and Africa and diversified product profile divided into Basic chemistry products and Specialty products segments.

Infosys fell 0.05%. The IT major signed a definitive agreement to acquire BASE life science in Europe to help global life sciences companies realize business value from cloud-first digital platforms and data, to speed-up clinical trials and scale drug development. Headquartered in Denmark, BASE is one of the fastest growing technology and consulting partners in the life sciences industry. Infosys will acquire 100% of the equity share capital in BASE life science for a cash consideration of upto Euro 110 million. It is including management incentives, bonuses and retention. The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of fiscal 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

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