Nifty slips below 17,700; breadth positive

The main indices were trading lower amid profit selling after a three-day rally. The Nifty slipped below the 17,700 mark. Auto and consumer durables stocks were trading firm while banks and IT shares were under pressure.

At 10:32 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 312.51 points or 0.52% at 59,245.27. The Nifty 50 index fell 84.50 points or 0.48% at 17,695.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.44% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.01%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,734 shares rose and 1329 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 183.60 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 425.96 crore in the Indian equity market on 2 February, provisional data showed.

Economy:

IHS Markit India Services PMI came at 51.5 in January 2022 falling from 55.5 posted in December 2021. The headline figure pointed to the slowest rate of expansion in the current six month sequence of growth. The upturn was reportedly stymied by the intensification of the pandemic, the reintroduction of restrictions and inflationary pressures.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit said, �The escalation of the pandemic and reintroduction of curfews had a detrimental impact on growth across the service sector. Both new business and output rose at slight rates that were the weakest in six months. Concerns about how long the current wave of COVID-19 will last dampened business confidence and caused job shedding. Firms were also alarmed about price pressures. On this front, the latest PMI results brought worrying news as input prices increased at the sharpest rate in over a decade. Charges rose at a faster pace as some firms continued to transfer additional cost burdens to consumers, but the rate of inflation here was moderate as the vast majority of monitored companies left their fees unchanged since December. Private sector growth was sustained at the start of the year but, with the slowdown seen in services mirrored by manufacturing, there were weaker expansions in aggregate sales and output.�

Results Today:

ITC (up 1.49%) and Titan Company (up 0.98%) will announce their quarterly results today.

Godrej Properties, Lupin, Aavas Financiers, Aditya Birla Capital, Adani Transmission, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, Cadila Healthcare, Coromandel International, Emami, GAIL (India), , JK Tyre & Industries, Kalyan Jewellers India, NESCO, Pfizer, PI Industries, Prince Pipes and Fittings, Radico Khaitan, Rolex Rings, Sigachi Industries, Sumitomo Chemical India, Torrent Power, Varun Beverages and Westlife Development will also announce their quarterly results today.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.82% to 35,493.55, snapping its four day winning streak. The IT index came under profit booking after rising nearly 7% in four days.

Mindtree (down 2.3%), L&T Infotech (down 1.7%), LTTS (down 1.67%), Mphasis (down 1.4%), Infosys (down 1.18%) and Tech Mahindra (down 1.11%) were top losers in IT space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Gillette India slipped 1.83% to Rs 5,190 after the company`s net profit fell 13.9% year on year to Rs 70.50 crore. The company reported an 8.3% increase in net sales to Rs 563.44 crore in Q2 December 2021 over Q2 December 2020.

Bharat Dynamics (BDL) surged 6.28% to Rs 518 after the company signed a contract worth Rs 3,131.82 crore for manufacture and supply of Konkurs - M anti-tank guided missiles to the Indian Army. Konkurs - M is a second generation, mechanized infantry anti-tank guided missile, to destroy armored vehicle equipped with explosive reactive armour. The contract will be executed in three years. With the latest contract, the net order book position of BDL stands at Rs 11,400 crore.

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