Sensex down 189 pts; financial services shares decline

The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with minor losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 20,100 level. Financial services stocks witnessed profit booking after rising in the past four trading sessions. Trading could be volatile due to November F&O series expires today.

At 11:30 AM IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 188.96 points or 0.28% to 66,712.95. The Nifty 50 index lost 34.60 points or 0.17% to 20,062.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.44% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.18%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,741 shares rose, and 1,772 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Financial Services index declined 0.31% to 19,938.40. The index added 2.22% in past four trading sessions.

HDFC Bank Ltd (down 1.01%), ICICI Bank Ltd (down 0.92%), Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (down 0.21%), Bajaj Finance Ltd (down 0.03%), Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd (down 0.03%) and State Bank of India (down 0.03%) slipped.

On the other hand, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd (up 2.43%) ,LIC Housing Finance Ltd (up 2.39%) and ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd (up 1.62%) edged higher.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RateGain Travel Technologies added 0.17%.The company said that it has partnered with Best Airlines Rep for providing accurate pricing intelligence for latter�s partner airlines. This strategic alliance marks the introduction of RateGain`s airline pricing solution, AirGain, enhancing the capabilities of Best Airlines Rep`s airline partners by offering immediate access to pricing insights from over 200 sources. This includes data from websites, mobile apps, GDS, and more, ensuring quick and up-to-the-minute information.

JSW Infrastructure fell 0.26%. The firm said that its subsidiary, Masad Infra Services has entered into a concession agreement with Karnataka Government. The consession agreement includes development of All- weather, deep water, greenfield port at Keni in Karnataka on Public Private Partnership basis (DBFOT) model.

Man Infraconstruction rose 0.11%. The Mumbai headquartered company on Wednesday announced that its board has approved fund raising of Rs 550 crore through preferential issue.

Global Market:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday ahead of key economic data from the region. China�s factory activity shrank for a second straight month in November. The official manufacturing purchasing managers� index fell slightly to 49.4 in November from 49.5 in October, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Thursday.

Retail sales rose in Japan, but at the slowest pace so far this year, while industrial output during the same month increased more than expected. Official data showed Japan retail sales rose 4.2% last month. Japan�s factory output gained 1.0% in October.

South Korea�s central bank held its benchmark policy rate at 3.5% for the seventh meeting in a row, in line with expectations. In its announcement, the Bank of Korea said that �although inflation has been elevated than previously expected, it is projected to continue its underlying trend of a slowdown.�

US stocks remained near the flat line on Wednesday, even as the U.S. economy grew more than expected. GDP in the third quarter accelerated at a 5.2% annualized pace, above the initial estimate of 4.9%.

Investors will focus on the Fed`s preferred measure of inflation on Thursday and Euro Zone consumer inflation figures for further clarity on the where inflation is headed. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on Friday. His words will be scrutinized by traders to gauge where rates may head.

Oil prices settled more than 1% higher on Wednesday as futures contracts gain momentum ahead of key OPEC meeting on Thursday. OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, are set to hold a virtual meeting on production cuts.

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