NIFTY SCALES ABOVE 22,950; MEDIA SHARES WITNESS BARGAIN BUYING

Published on Feb 19, 2025 11:33

The headline equity benchmarks traded near the flatline with some tiny gains in the mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,950 mark. Media shares advanced after declining in the past three trading sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 105.44 points or 0.14% to 76,073.40. The Nifty 50 index rose 8.25 points or 0.04% to 22,953.55.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 1.01% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.14%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 2,742 shares rose and 954 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index added 1.55% to 1,495.45. The index declined 3.18% in the past three trading session.

Saregama India (up 4.93%), Tips Music (up 3.63%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 3.07%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 1.92%), Den Networks (up 1.55%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.48%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.28%), Dish TV India (up 0.29%) advanced.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Aurobindo Pharma slumped 3.37% after the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued five observations to Aurobindo Pharma stepdown subsidiary, Eugia Steriles� facility in Andhra Pradesh.

Piramal Pharma advanced 2.73%. The US FDA issued a Form-483 with 6 observations to the company�s Turbhe facility post a GMP inspection.

RPP Infra Projects rallied 4.76% after the company announced that it has received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) for an Rs 62.78 crore project in Tamil Nadu awarded by the Superintending Engineer (N) C (M) P Office in Tirupur.

Global Markets:

Asian stock markets traded mixed on Wednesday as Japan reported a larger-than-expected trade deficit of 2.76 trillion yen ($1.8 billion) for the latest period, reversing a prior surplus and exceeding forecasts of a 2.10 trillion yen deficit. Improving domestic demand and a stronger yen sparked an outsized surge in imports, while export growth was also slightly underwhelmed.

Early Asian trading hours were marked by reports of potential 25% U.S. tariffs on automobile, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical imports, with a possible announcement in the coming as soon as April 2.

Investors are awaiting U.S. purchasing managers index (PMI) data for February, seeking further clarity on the U.S. economy`s resilience amidst persistent inflation and trade-related uncertainties.

U.S. equities reached record highs on Tuesday, though gains were moderate ahead of Federal Reserve policy signals. The S&P 500 closed at a record high of 6,129.62, representing a 0.24% increase. The NASDAQ Composite rose marginally by 0.07% to 20,041.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained relatively unchanged at 44,556.16.

In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Russia engaged in preliminary talks, with the U.S. seeking to gauge Russia`s sincerity regarding a peace settlement in Ukraine.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its recent policy meeting, which will be closely scrutinized for insights into the central bank`s interest rate strategy, particularly following signals of a prolonged pause in rate reductions. Investor focus is on what the feds minutes may reveal about rate intentions.