Market drifts higher in early trade, Sensex above 60K

The domestic equity barometers were trading with modest gains in early trade on buying demand in index pivotals. The Sensex climbed above the key 60,000 level. Bank, financial services and consumer durables stocks advanced while metal, oil & gas and healthcare shares witnessed a bit of a selling pressure.

At 09:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 293 points or 0.49% to 60,225.24. The Nifty 50 index gained 74.50 points or 0.45% to 17,684.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.21%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,614 shares rose and 1,010 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,065.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,371.36 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 February, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) rose 0.74%. The company said that it has received approval from SEBI for change in control of the company due to proposed stake sale by abrdn Investment Management Limited, the co-sponsor of HDFC Mutual Fund. abrdn can reduce their stake in the company to less than 10% and cease to be co-sponsor of HDFC Mutual Fund.

Tata Consumer Products declined 1%. The FMCG major reported 26% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 364 crore on an 8% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 3,475 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Adani Enterprises hit a lower circuit of 10% and Ambuja Cements fell 2.43% after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has put Adani Enterprises and Ambuja Cements under additional surveillance measure (ASM) framework effective 3 February 2023.

Berger Paints India shed 0.04%. The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 201.17 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 252.97 crore recorded in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 2,693.59 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 2,550.77 crore recorded in Q3 FY22.

One 97 Communications (Paytm) skid 1.26%. Paytm informed that its non-executive, non-independent director, Douglas Feagin, tendered his resignation vide letter dated 2 February 2023, with immediate effect.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday despite the Caixin purchasing managers' index showing services activity in China picked up in January.

China's service sector showed a rebound in the first month of 2023, according to the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI). The reading rose to 52.9 in January, from the business activity index of 48 seen in December.

The au Jibun Bank Japan services purchasing managers' index came in at 52.3 for the month of January, ticking higher than the previous reading of 51.1 seen in December.

US stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as investors turned their focus to a handful of key earnings reports due from mega-cap tech firms after the closing bell.

In Europe, the Bank of England raised interest rates by half a percentage point Thursday as it sought to tame double-digit inflation that is fueling a cost-of-living crisis, public-sector strikes and fears of recession. The bank's monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to push its key rate to 4%.

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