Indices drift lower in early trade; breadth strong

The domestic equities are trading with minor losses in early trade, dragged by auto, FMCG and IT scrips. The Nifty traded below 16,600 level.

At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 31.24 points or 0.06% at 55,433.15. The Nifty 50 index slipped 9 points or 0.05% at 16,585.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.59%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,901 shares rose and 662 shares fell. A total of 95 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,981.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 945.71 crore in the Indian equity market on 10 March 2022, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro lost 0.45%. The IT major and Pandorum Technologies, a biotechnology company working in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, announced a long-term partnership. Together, the companies will focus on development of technologies that shorten time-to-market and maximize patient outcome during R&D and clinical trials of regenerative medicine.

Indraprastha Gas gained 0.46%. Indraprastha Gas has received a letter of intent from PNGRB for grant of authorization to the company for the development of CGD network in the Geographical Area of Banda, Chitrakoot and Mahoba in the state of UP.

Lupin rose 0.69%. The pharmaceutical company announced that Lupin Diagnostics has launched its first Reference Laboratory in East India in Kolkata. The new Reference Laboratory at Kolkata has capabilities to conduct a broad spectrum of routine and specialized tests in the fields of molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, flow cytometry, histopathology, cytology, microbiology, serology, haematology, immunology and routine biochemistry.

TCI Express added 1.92%. The company has successfully commissioned India`s first largest automated B2B sorting centre in India at Gurgaon. The new sorting centre has been named as "GIGA Sorting Centre" spread across 2 lakh square feet of area.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks declined on Friday tracking losses on Wall Street as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to keep investors cautious.

Negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers reportedly ended with little progress on matters including a cease-fire or a safe passage for civilians trying to flee the besieged city of Mariupol.

Wall Street resumed its slide on Thursday, ending in the red as inflation hit a four-decade high, cementing expectations that the US Federal Reserve would hike key interest rates at the conclusion of next week`s monetary policy meeting to prevent the economy from overheating.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Thursday that America is set for another year of �very uncomfortably high� inflation amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

US consumer prices surged in February, culminating in the largest annual increase in 40 years. The consumer price index increased 0.8% last month after gaining 0.6% in January, the Labor Department said on Thursday. In the 12 months through February, the CPI shot up 7.9%, the biggest year-on-year increase since January 1982. That followed a 7.5% jump in January and was the fifth straight month of annual CPI readings north of 6%.

In Europe, investors weighed the European Central Bank`s decision to unwind stimulus measures sooner than expected. The bank said Thursday it will end its bond-buying program in the third quarter of this year, if the economic data allows for it.

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