Indices nudge higher; breadth strong

The key equity barometers traded with minor gains in early trade. The Nifty traded above 22,100 mark. Consumer durables, realty and IT stocks advanced while private bank, bank and oil & gas shares declined.

At 09:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 20.17 points or 0.03% to 72,810.30. The Nifty 50 index added 6.30 points or 0.03% to 22,128.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.26% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.32%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,843 shares rose and 1,078 shares fell. A total of 92 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 285.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5.33 crore in the Indian equity market on 26 February, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro rose 0.81%. The company announced a joint private wireless solution with Nokia, to help enterprises scale their digital transformation. This joint solution will provide enterprises with a more secure 5G private wireless network solution integrated with their operation infrastructure.

Canara Bank added 0.48%. The board of directors of the bank approved sub-division/ split of every one equity share of face value of Rs 10 each, fully paid-up, into five equity shares of face value of Rs. 2 each.

One 97 Communications (OCL) was locked in 5% upper circuit after the company said that its associate, Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), has reconstituted its board of directors with the appointment of Ex-Central Bank of India Chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former Executive Director of Bank of Baroda Shri Ashok Kumar Garg, and Retd. IAS Rajni Sekhri Sibal. They have recently joined as Independent Directors. Vijay Shekhar Sharma has also resigned from the board of Paytm Payments Bank to enable this transition.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.01% to 7.062 as compared with previous close 7.063.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee is constant against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.8850, compared with its close of 82.8850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement rose 0.16% to Rs 62,248.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.07% to 103.76.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.53% to 4.276.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2024 settlement dropped 2 cents or 0.2% to $ 82.51 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as markets await events due later this week for a better gauge of the global interest-rate outlook.

US stocks ended with modest losses on Monday, as the focus shifted after last week`s AI-fuelled rally to upcoming economic data that could affect the timing of the Federal Reserve`s expected interest rate cut.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News