Indices pare gains; Nifty hovers above 16,900

After a strong start, the benchmark indices trimmed gains in morning trade. IT, FMCG and auto stocks were trading firm. The Nifty was hovering above the 16,900 level.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 236.37 points or 0.42% at 56,642.21. The Nifty 50 index gained 63.60 points or 0.38% at 16,906.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.22% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.92%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,000 shares rose and 2,112 shares fell. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,253.70 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,170.29 crore in the Indian equity market on 14 February 2022, provisional data showed.

Economy:

India`s retail inflation jumped to 6.01% in January 2022 compared to 5.56% in December 2021. As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data, rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation in food and beverages rose to 5.58% compared to 4.5% in December. However, on a month-on-month basis, retail inflation fell by 0.3%.

The inflation print for January 2022 is along expected lines, with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das saying earlier that it was likely to come in around the 6% mark.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slipped 1.54% to 5,630.85. The index lost 7.07% in three trading sessions.

NMDC (down 4.19%), Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) (down 2.70%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.26%), APL Apollo Tubes (down 2.21%) and Tata Steel (down 1.94%) were the top losers in the Metal segment.

Vedanta lost 0.50%. The company announced signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Foxconn to form a joint venture company that will manufacture semiconductors in India. Taiwan-based Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) is the world`s largest electronics manufacturing company. According to the MOU signed between the two companies, Vedanta will hold the majority of the equity in the JV, while Foxconn will be the minority shareholder. Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal will be the chairman of the joint venture company.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Coal India shed 0.53%. The state-run coal major`s consolidated net profit jumped 47.74% to Rs 4,558.39 crore on 19.73% increase in sales to Rs 25,990.97 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020. Profit before tax jumped 32.90% to Rs 6,302.20 crore in Q3 December 2021 as against Rs 4,742.20 crore in Q3 December 2020. Total expenses rose 16.27% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 22,780.95 crore in Q3 December 2021. Cost of raw material consumed increased 25.55% to Rs 2389.29 crore. Consolidated coal production (raw coal) rose 4.49% to 163.82 million tonnes (MT) in Q3 FY22 as against 156.78 million tonnes (MT) in Q3 FY21. Offtake (raw coal) jumped 12.50% to 173.77 MT in Q3 FY22 as against 154.46 MT in Q3 FY21.

Eicher Motors rose 1.22%. The firm recorded 14% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 456 crore despite a 1.9% rise in total revenues to Rs 2,881 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. EBITDA was at Rs 582 crore as compared to Rs 672 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year, down 13% Y-o-Y. Royal Enfield sold 1,67,664 motorcycles during the quarter, a decline of 15.6% from 1,98,557 motorcycles sold over the same period in FY2020-21.

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