Indices edge lower; breadth strong

The domestic benchmark indices traded with limited losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below 21,550 level. Oil & gas, metal and auto shares advanced while bank, financial services and private bank stocks declined.

At 09:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 52.11 points or 0.07% to 71,087.79. The Nifty 50 index lost 2.75 points or 0.01% to 21,519.35.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.91%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,039 shares rose and 863 shares fell. A total of 93 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,970.52 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,002.70 crore in the Indian equity market on 30 January, provisional data showed.

The upcoming India`s Interim Budget on Thursday and the US Federal Reserve`s monetary policy meeting outcome on Wednesday are expected to bring continued volatility to the market.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 0.55%. The company announced a 15-year expansion of its partnership with Aviva, the UK�s leading Insurance, Wealth and Retirement provider, to transform Aviva�s UK Life business and enhance customer experience leveraging the TCS BaNCS based platform. As part of this, the end-to-end policy administration and servicing will expand to cover over 5.5 million policies, to be managed by Diligenta, TCS� FCA regulated subsidiary in the UK, on behalf of Aviva.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 5.51%. L&T reported 15% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2947 crore on 19% rise in total income to Rs 55128 crore in Q3 FY24 over Q3 FY23. The company received orders worth Rs 75,990 crore at the group level during the quarter ended 31 December 2023, registering a growth of 25% on y-o-y basis. The consolidated order book is at Rs 469,807 crore as on 31 December 2023, with international orders having a share of 39%.

Bharti Airtel shed 0.22%. The company announced that it has launched seven new, next-gen company owned stores in the city of Ahmedabad. The new stores will strengthen Airtel�s retail presence and will offer unparalleled service experience to customers. The stores will also showcase Airtel�s cutting-edge technologies across its portfolio.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper fell 0.10% to 7.148 as compared with previous close 7.155

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.1150, compared with its close of 83.1000 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement shed 0.09% to Rs 62,573.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.23% to 103.64.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.77% to 4.026.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2024 settlement slipped 38 cents or 0.46% to $ 82.12 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday ahead of the rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve and as investors assessed a slew of economic data from across the region, including China and Australia.

China�s factory activity contracted for a fourth consecutive month in January. The official non-manufacturing managers� index rose to 50.7 in January from 50.4 in December, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Wednesday.

US stocks ended mixed on Tuesday ahead of the much-awaited US Fed`s policy outcome.

The International Monetary Fund slightly increased its global growth forecast for 2024, noting that a hard landing is looking less likely but cited ongoing geopolitical conflicts as potential overhangs to global growth. The IMF raised its global growth projection to 3.1% in 2024, which is 0.2% higher than its forecast from October 2023. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its 2024-25 GDP growth forecast for India by 20 basis points to 6.5%.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News