Nifty hits new life high; media shares decline for 3rd day

The key equity indices traded with significant gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,050 mark. Media shares extended losses for the third consecutive trading session.

At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 637.58 points or 0.88% to 73,206.03. The Nifty 50 index gained 173.45 points or 0.79% to 22,068.00.

The benchmarks, Nifty50 hit a fresh all-time high of 22,084.90 in mid-afternoon trade while Sensex hit an record high at 73,288.78 in early trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.66% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,111 shares rose and 1,803 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is 0.73% (provisional) for the month of December, 2023 (over December, 2022). Positive rate of inflation in December, 2023 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, machinery & equipment, other manufacturing, other transport equipment computers, electronics & optical products etc.

Meanwhile, India`s retail inflation edged marginally in December on higher food prices. Inflation, measured by the annual change in the consumer price index (CPI), rose to a four-month high of 5.69% in December from 5.55% in November and it was 5.72% in December 2022.

Separately, India`s Index for Industrial Production (IIP) growth declined to 2.4% in November from 11.7% in October.

After rising for four consecutive weeks, India�s foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined sharply by $5.89 billion to $617.3 billion during the week ended January 5, according to the latest RBI data.

So far this fiscal, the reserves have increased $55.72 billion. In the previous reporting week ended December 29, the reserves rose $2.759 billion to $623.2 billion, the highest so far this fiscal. In the week before that, the reserves increased $4.471 billion to $620.441.

Gold reserves also declined $839 million to $47.48 billion during the reporting week, while the special drawing rights (SDRs) were down $67 million to $18.29 billion, the RBI said. The country�s reserve position with the IMF also declined $26 million to $48.66 billion in the reporting week.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index declined 1.47% to 2,410.15. The index fell 2.51% in three trading sessions.

Dish TV India (down 5.7%), Sun TV Network (down 2.84%), TV18 Broadcast (down 2.33%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 2.02%) and Network 18 Media & Investments (down 1.37%), PVR Inox (down 0.75%), Saregama India (down 0.48%) declined.

On the other hand, D B Corp (up 2.45%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.48%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 1.24%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.54% to 7.139 as compared with previous close 7.178.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.8750, compared with its close of 82.9500 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement added 0.44% to Rs 62,634.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.02% to 102.43.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.61% to 3.976.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2024 settlement rose 1 cent or 0.01% to $78.30 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotight:

Titagarh Rail Systems added 2.95% after the company launched its first indigenous 25T Bollard Pull Tug that will carry out a wide range of naval operations for the Indian Navy.

Fiem Industries rose 1.35% after the company said that its board has considered and recommended the issue of bonus shares to the shareholders of the company. The company will issue one fully paid-up bonus equity share of Rs 10 each for every one existing fully paid-up equity share of Rs 10 each held by its shareholders as on the "record date", subject to necessary approvals. The company has fixed 28 February 2024 has been fixed as �record date�

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