Broader markets pare most losses; FMCG shares rise for 2nd day

The domestic equity barometers traded with deep cuts in mid-morning trade. The Nifty continued to trade below the 17,650 level. FMCG shares witnessed buying demand for second consecutive session.

At 11:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 738.09 points or 1.22% to 59,692.91. The Nifty 50 index lost 179.45 points or 1.01% to 17,648.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.10% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.04%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1560 shares rose and 1816 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.

Disappointing performance by domestic IT gains Infosys (down 10.78%) coupled with the prospect of more rate hikes by major central banks and a global economic slowdown dented the domestic investor sentiment.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index rose 1.15% to 46,745.20. The index has gained 1.37% in two sessions.

Nestle India (up 3.25%), United Breweries (up 1.82%), Britannia Industries (up 1.78%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.37%) and Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 1.2%) were the top gainers.

Among the other gainers were ITC (up 1.18%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.1%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (up 0.72%), Marico (up 0.57%) and Radico Khaitan (up 0.49%).

On the other hand, Dabur India (down 0.98%), Tata Consumer Products (down 0.5%) and United Spirits (down 0.11%) moved lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

HCL Technologies fell 2.81%. Anand Birje, head of Digital Business Services, resigned from the company to pursue another opportunity.

Max Healthcare shed 0.97%. The company completed the acquisition of an additional 34,000 shares of Eqova Healthcare for Rs 68.87 crore, taking its shareholding from 26% to 60%.

Muthoot Finance rose 0.51%. The NBFC has announced the completion the pre-payment of external commercial borrowings to the tune of $225 million on 13 April 2023.

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) added 1.57%. AGEL said its sale of energy for solar portfolio increased by 6% YoY at 2,872 million units in Q4 FY23 as against 2,717 million units in Q4 FY22.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mostly lower on Monday, as U.S. earnings season gets into full swing, while a raft of Chinese data will offer insight into how the world`s second-largest economy is recovering.

Chinese data on retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product are due on Tuesday.

Wall Street ended lower on Friday as a barrage of mixed economic data appeared to affirm another Federal Reserve interest rate hike, dampening investor enthusiasm after a series of big US bank earnings launched first-quarter reporting season.

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