Market pares losses; Nifty climbs above 18,050

The key equity indices pared all the losses and traded with small gains in morning trade. The Nifty marched above the 18,050 mark. FMCG, oil & gas and pharma shares saw buying demand while financial services, media and bank stocks saw a bit of selling pressure.

At 10:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 31.19 points or 0.05% to 60,688.64. The Nifty 50 index added 18.85 points or 0.10% to 18,061.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.03% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.01%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,643 shares rose and 1,472 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,620.89 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 773.58 crore in the Indian equity market on 4 January, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index advanced 1.66% to 44,449.85. The index has slipped 1.06% in past two trading sessions.

Britannia Industries (up 2.48%), Marico (up 2.21%), ITC (up 1.73%), Tata Consumer Products (up 1.69%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.28%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 1.26%), Dabur India (up 1.24%), Nestle India (up 1.19%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.04%) and Emami (up 0.88%) advanced.

On the other hand, Radico Khaitan (down 1.32%), Varun Beverages (down 1.03%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (down 0.32%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Likhitha Infrastructure advanced 3.975 after the company said that it has received total orders worth approximately Rs 457.39 crore from various oil and gas distribution companies during the quarter from October 2022 to December 2022.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) slipped 0.07%. The company said that it had handled approximately 25.1 MMT of total cargo in December 2022, recording a growth of 8% in container volumes.

NTPC rose 1.53%. The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Green Energy (NGEL) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) for development of renewable energy based power projects.

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