Market tumbles in early trade; Nifty below 21,550

The domestic equity indices traded with steep losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 21,550 mark. Barring the Nifty Media index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in red.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 695.85 points or 0.97% to 70,859.34. The Nifty 50 index slipped 193.75 points or 0.89% to 21,549.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.90% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.48%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,143 shares rose and 1,778 shares fell. A total of 89 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 376.32 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 273.94 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 February, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro slipped 2.26%. The IT major announced that it has made a significant investment in Aggne, a leading consulting and managed services company serving insurance and Insurtech industries.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose 0.26%. Moody�s Investor Service has re-affirmed its investment grade rating `Baa3` on the company with stable outlook.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) fell 1.75%. The company reported 140.8% rise in net profit to Rs 58.5 crore in Q3 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 24.3 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. Operating revenue fell 3% to Rs 2045.7 crore in the third quarter of FY24 from Rs 2108.8 crore posted in Q3 FY23.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.51% to 7.133 from previous close of 7.097.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.1000, compared with its close of 83.0850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement fell 0.12% to Rs 61,430.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.16% to 104.80.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.16% to 4.311.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2024 settlement shed 12 cents or 0.14% to $82.65 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were trading sharply lower on Wednesday, tracking a similar move on the Wall Street, as higher-than-expected U.S. CPI data pushed back traders` expectation of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve anytime soon. Mainland China`s financial markets remain closed for the week.

Wall Street`s main indices tumbled on Tuesday after a higher-than-expected consumer inflation reading pushed back market expectations of imminent interest rate cuts, driving US Treasury yields higher.

US Consumer Price Index rose by 3.1% for the 12 months ended in January, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. That marks a step back from December`s 3.4% rate and a dramatic cooling from the 6.4% increase seen in January 2023. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.3% in January.

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