Shares trade in narrow range; PSU banks decline

The key equity benchmarks traded in a narrow range in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 17,100 level. PSU banks witnessed some bit of profit booking after advancing in the past two sessions.

At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 476.12 points or 0.84% to 57,333.91. The Nifty 50 index added 160.15 points or 0.95% to 17,089.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.72% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.10%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,022 shares rose and 1,250 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

Investors cheered US economy data. The data released on Thursday showed that the US economy shrunk for the second consecutive quarter, fuelling speculations that the Fed may not undertake aggressive interest rate hikes. The data also raised the possibility of the US economy approaching a recession.

' Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 7.320% as compared with 7.332% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 79.2300, compared with its close of 79.6925 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2022 settlement slipped 0.05% to Rs 51,277.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.38% to 105.95.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2022 settlement added $2.14 or 2.10% to $103.81 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.29% to 2,781.75. The index had advanced 2.40% in the past two sessions.

Punjab National Bank (down 3.68%), Canara Bank (down 1.59%), Bank of Baroda (down 0.9%), Indian Bank (down 0.82%) and State Bank of India (down 0.8%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Bank of India (down 0.52%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 0.33%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.26%).

On the other hand, Bank of Maharashtra (up 0.3%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 0.29%) and Central Bank of India (up 0.28%) moved up.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ashok Leyland rose 1.20% to Rs 147.25 after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 68 crore in Q1 FY23 as against a net loss of Rs 282 crore in Q1 FY22. Revenue in the first quarter jumped to Rs 7,223 crore from Rs 2,951 crore recorded in the same period last year.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries jumped 4.34%. The company 42.7% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,060.9 crore on a 10.1% increase in gross sales to Rs 10,644 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

Housing Development Finance Corporation added 0.88%. The corporation reported 22% YoY increase in net profit to Rs 3,669 crore in Q1 FY23. The net interest income (NII) for the quarter ended 30 June 2022 stood at Rs 4,447 crore compared to Rs 4,125 crore in the previous year. The reported NIM during the quarter ended 30 June 2022 was 3.4%.

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