Benchmarks trade near flat line, European mkt advance

The equity barometers traded sideways in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,200 level. Realty, PSU bank and metal shares advanced while media and IT stocks declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 8.75 points or 0.01% to 73,048.65. The Nifty 50 index added 1.55 points or 0.01% to 22,195.40.

In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.25% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap shed 0.02%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,839 shares rose and 1,929 shares fell. A total of 123 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Tata Steel (up 3.01%), JSW Steel (up 2.82%), State Bank of India (up 1.98%), Adani Enterprises (up 1.58%) and Eicher Motors (up 1.23%) were major Nifty gainers.

Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.93%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.86%), Coal India (down 1.44%), Infosys (down 1.27%) and NTPC (down 1.25%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Varun Beverages gained 1.58% after the company announced the signing of an exclusive deal with PepsiCo to manufacture and package `Cheetos� in Morocco.

Hindalco Industries added 1.29% after its fully owned subsidiary, Novelis Inc. announced that it has confidentially submitted a filing for initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

ABB India surged 9.24% after the company�s net profit (from continuing operations) grew by 12.8% to Rs 345.20 crore in Q4 CY23 as compared with Rs 305.91 crore recorded in Q4 CY22. The company�s total revenue from operation increased 13.62% to Rs 2,757 crore for the fourth quarter of CY23 as compared to Rs 2,426.91 recorded in corresponding quarter last year, seamless execution of a strong backlog, revenue mix, services focus and capacity utilization led to increased revenue across almost all businesses and divisions.

Thermax rose 0.67%. The company has entered into license and technical assistance agreement with Flowtech Co, South Korea (Licensor) to manufacture poly carboxylate ether products.

Tata Power Company rose 0.45%. The company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tata Power Trading Company (TPTCL) has collaborated with BluSmart for sourcing green power.

Global Markets:

Most of the European stocks advanced while Asian stocks were trading mixed on Wednesday, as traders weighed big tech prospects ahead of Nvidia Corp.`s hotly anticipated earnings that dragged Wall Street away from its all-time highs.

In January, Japanese exports surpassed expectations, growing by 11.9% year-on-year due to increased overseas demand for automobiles and electronics. This exceeded the anticipated 9.5% rise and marked Japan`s fastest export growth since November 2022. Conversely, imports experienced a larger-than-expected decline of 9.6%, compared to the predicted 8.4% drop, reflecting sluggish domestic demand. Consequently, Japan`s trade balance unexpectedly shifted to a surplus of 240 billion yen ($1.60 billion) from a deficit of 410 billion yen in December.

The US Dow Jones index futures is currently down by 28 points, signaling a negative opening for US stocks today. Traders awaited more cues on monetary policy from the minutes of the Federal Reserve�s late-January meeting.

In the US, the Nasdaq 100 dropped almost 1% while the S&P 500 fell below 5,000 in the last session. Nvidia`s stock also fell more than 4% ahead of its scheduled earnings announcement on Wednesday. Traders are keenly observing its result, seeking confirmation that the chipmaker can meet the high expectations associated with the artificial-intelligence boom.

The US 10-year bond yield is recorded at 4.27%. In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2024 settlement was at $82.57 a barrel.

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