Barometers turn rangebound, APSEZ rises over 2%

The frontline indices traded in a narrow range with significant losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 21,600 level. Realty and media shares advanced while PSU bank, FMCG, metal shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 424.55 points or 0.59% to 71,601.60. The Nifty 50 index lost 125.75 points or 0.58% to 21,585.05

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.55%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,998 shares rose and 1,906 shares fell. A total of 126 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s foreign exchange reserves rose for a seventh straight week and stood at a near 22-month high of $623.20 billion as of December 29, according to the latest RBI data. The reserves rose by $2.76 billion for the reported week after increasing by a total of $30.12 billion in the prior six weeks.

Gold reserves were up by $853 million to $48.328 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $38 million to $18.365 billion, the apex bank said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was down by $2 million to $4.892 billion in the reporting week.

Gainers & Losers:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 2.17%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 1.06%), NTPC (up 0.92%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.89%) and Bajaj Finance (up 0.85%) were major Nifty gainers.

UPL (down 2.77%), Divi`s Laboratories (down 2%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.96%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.95%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.70%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Titan Company rose 0.07%. The Tata Group company on Friday announced that it has registered 22% year on year (YoY) growth in revenue for the quarter ended 30 December 2023. Titan added a total of 90 stores during the quarter, taking the group`s retail presence to 2,949 stores.

Marico slipped 3.81%. The FMCG major said that its India business reported low-single digit volume growth in Q3 FY24, with low single-digit growth in Parachute Coconut Oil. Marico has also reported a slight sequential improvement in its core portfolio.

Bank of Baroda declined 3.31%. Bank of Baroda reported 13.41% increase in domestic advances to Rs 8,62,162 crore as on 31 December 2023 from Rs 7,60,249 crore recorded on 31 December 2022.

Adani Wilmar fell 1.59%. The edible oil major on Friday announced that it has reported 6% year on year volume growth in Q3 FY24, driven by increasing penetration of packaged oil and food.

Godrej Consumer Products declined 3.40% after the FMCG company reported double-digit growth in volume terms in India for December quarter, with the operating environment remaining similar to the second quarter.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) advanced 3.09% after the company announced that it has witnessed consistent growth across its three business verticals.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe declined while most of the Asian stocks traded lower as investors look ahead to key economic data and events in the following days.

Australia and Japan will release inflation figures on Tuesday and Thursday, while China will announce its trade balance and inflation numbers for December on Friday.

Bank of Korea will be holding the first central bank meeting of the year among major Asia economies on Thursday. Japan�s markets are closed for a public holiday, and will return to trade on Tuesday.

U.S.indices gained on Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The U.S. economy added many more jobs than anticipated in December, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 216,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.

On Sunday, congressional leaders announced a deal establishing a $1.59 trillion in top-line spending, in order to avoid a potential government shutdown.

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