Barometers drift lower in early trade, Nifty below 21,050 mark

The headline equity indices were trading with modest losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 21,050 level. Media and oil & gas shares advanced while realty, healthcare and pharma stocks witnessed a bit of a selling pressure. Trading could be volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

At 09:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 370.95 points or 0.53% to 70,135.36. The Nifty 50 index lost 128.65 points or 0.61% to 21,021.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.72% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.43%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,213 shares rose and 1,688 shares fell. A total of 97 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,322.08 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4,754.34 crore in the Indian equity market on 20 December, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Bank declined 1.52%. RBI has approved the re-appointment of Sandeep Batra as Executive Director of the Bank with effect from 23 December 2023 to 22 December 2025. This renewed term of two years is within the five years term as previously approved by the shareholders.

UltraTech Cement added 0.24%. The company has entered into Share Subscription and Shareholders Agreement to acquire 26% equity shares of Clean Max Terra Private Limited, a company engaged in generation and transmission of renewable energy. The acquisition is for the purposes of meeting the company�s green energy needs, optimising energy cost and comply with regulatory requirements for captive power consumption under electricity laws.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders gained 2.24% after the state-owned shipbuilding firm said that it has signed a contract worth about Rs 1,600 crore with acquisition wing of the Ministry of Defence for the construction and delivery of six next generation offshore patrol vessels (NGOPVs) for Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.07% to 7.166 as compared with previous close 7.171.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.2300, compared with its close of 83.1850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement added 0.06% to Rs 62,453.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.08% to 102.33.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.49% to 3.859.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2024 settlement lost 24 cents or 0.30% to $79.46 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks were trading lower on Thursday after Wall Street dropped overnight, while investors awaited gross domestic product reading and inflation numbers from the U.S. Investors in Asia will assess producer prices reading from South Korea, as well as Indonesia�s central bank decision on Thursday.

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday after an abrupt mid-afternoon nosedive ended Wall Street`s impressive rally, which had been driven by falling interest rates and the Federal Reserve`s dovish turn.

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