Barometers trade sideways; even market breadth

The key equity benchmarks traded sideways amid bouts of volatility in early trade. The Nifty traded tad above the 16,450 mark.

Asian Paints (up 1.30%), HDFC Life (up 0.93%), Power Grid Corp (up 0.48%), Nestle India (up 0.44%) and ONGC (up 0.39%) were the top Nifty gainers.

Apollo Hospitals (down 1.74%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.09%), JSW Steel (down 1.05%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.04%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.96%) were the top Nifty losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.12% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.02%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1,112 shares rose and 1,104 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Larsen & Toubro 0.87%. The company reported 45% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1702 crore on 22% rise in total revenue to Rs 35853 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22. The company secured orders worth Rs 41,805 crore at the group level during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, registering a growth of 57% over corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Tata Power Company fell 1.24%. On a consolidated basis, Tata Power Company`s net profit jumped 90% to Rs 884 crore on 43% increase in net sales to Rs 14,495.48 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

United Spirits declined 3.25%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 261.1 crore in Q1 June 2022 as against a net profit of Rs 50.3 crore in Q1 June 2021. Total income rose to Rs 7157.5 crore from Rs 6176.3 crore.

Axis Bank shed 0.20%. The Competition Commission of India has given approval to Axis Bank and Citi Bank deal. Axis Bank has decided to acquire Citibank`s India consumer business from Citibank N.A. and the NBFC consumer business from Citicorp Finance (India).

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading lower on Wednesday as Australia`s inflation rose and investors looked forward to the Fed`s policy decision. Prices in Australia rose 6.1% in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago, up from 5.1% in the first quarter of the year.

US stocks ended sharply lower Tuesday as a profit warning by Walmart dragged down retail shares and exceptionally weak consumer confidence data also fueled fears about spending.

At the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, the Fed is widely expected to raise its main interest rate by 0.75 percentage points.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India for the current financial year by 80 basis points to 7.4%. A similar downgrade has been made to the growth forecast for FY24, which now stands at 6.1% as against 6.9% earlier.

"For India, the revision reflects mainly less favourable external conditions and more rapid policy tightening," the IMF said on July 26 in an update to its World Economic Outlook report.

The IMF on Tuesday cut its global GDP forecasts for 2022 and 2023. It now expects growth to come in at 3.2% this year, 0.4 percentage points lower than its April projection.

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