Benchmarks trade with moderate losses, realty shares rally for 4th day

The headline equity indices continued to trade in a narrow range with limited losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 22,050 mark. Realty shares witnessed buying demand for the fourth consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 255.61 points or 0.36% to 72,569.75. The Nifty 50 index lost 50.90 points or 0.23% to 22,045.85.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.80% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.31%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,526 shares rose and 2,385 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India�s foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion for the week ended March 15, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had risen by $10.47 billion to $636.095 billion.

Gold reserves increased by $425 million to $51.14 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $65 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said.

India�s reserve position with the IMF was down by $129 million to $4.689 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index jumped 1.10% to 884.15. The index surged 6.62% in four trading sessions.

Phoenix Mills (up 4.7%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 4.01%), Oberoi Realty (up 3.28%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 1.46%), DLF (up 0.81%), Godrej Properties (up 0.44%) and Macrotech Developers (up 0.28%) advanced.

On the other hand, Brigade Enterprises (down 3.77%), Swan Energy (down 2.44%) and Sobha (down 2.18%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 0.01% to 7.088 as compared with previous close 7.087.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee is edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.3000, compared with its close of 83.6150 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.05% to Rs 66,058.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was shed 0.34% to 104.12.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.21% to 4.242.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2024 settlement lost 12 cents or 0.14% to $ 85.96 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

H.G. Infra Engineering gained 2.04% after its consortium Stockwell Solar Services received a solar project worth Rs 534 crore from Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam.

Vedanta shed 0.52%. The company said that CRISIL Ratings has continued to place the ratings on the bank facilities and debt instruments of the company at `rating watch with developing implications�.

Sanghi Industries fell 1.41% after the company`s promoter, Ambuja Cements sold 2% or 51.66 lakh equity shares in open market to comply with minimum public shareholding norms.

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