Sensex slides 168 pts, Nifty ends at 17,624.40; cement shares surge

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with small losses after a volatile session on Wednesday. After opening at 17,519.40, the Nifty 50 index managed to pare most losses and closed above the 17,600 level. Cement, media, pharma and healthcare stocks advanced while autos and banks shares tumbled.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 168.08 points or 0.28% to 59,028.91. The Nifty 50 index lost 31.20 points or 0.18% to 17,624.40.

The NSE`s India VIX, a gauge of the market`s expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 0.80% to 19.37.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.46% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.73%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2133 shares rose and 1322 shares fell. A total of 125 shares were unchanged.

Investors remained cautious ahead of the release of the US Fed`s Beige Book, which summarises the state of the world`s largest economy, due later today.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.184 as compared with 7.179 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 79.9250, compared with its close of 79.8275 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2022 settlement added 0.02% to Rs 50,292.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was hovering at 3.325%.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, gained 0.36% to 110.61.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2022 settlement rose 57 cents or 0.61% at $93.40 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Wednesday as investors anticipate the Federal Reserve to give its summary on current economic conditions, also known as the Beige Book.

Meanwhile, China`s exports rose 7.1% in August compared with the same period a year ago, official data showed. Imports ticked up 0.3%, less than 2.3% increase in July. The country saw a trade surplus of $79.39 billion in August driven by weaker import numbers, after it saw a record $101.26 billion in trade surplus in July.

Following this, a foreign brokerage has reportedly cut its forecast for China`s full-year GDP to 2.7%, another downgrade from its previous 2.8% estimate set in August. As per reports, the new outlook is based on the research firm`s analysis that found 12% of China`s GDP is affected by Covid controls on a weighted basis, up from 5.3% last week.

Wall Street`s main indices closed lower on Tuesday, the first session after the US Labor Day holiday and summer vacations, as traders assessed fresh economic data in volatile trading.

A survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed the U.S. services industry picked up in August for the second straight month amid stronger order growth and employment, while supply bottlenecks and price pressures eased.

The Institute for Supply Management said its non-manufacturing PMI edged up to a reading of 56.9 last month from 56.7 in July, the second consecutive monthly increase after three months of declines.

The focus will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell`s speech on Thursday as well U.S. consumer price data next week for clues on the path of monetary policy.

Buzzing Segment:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.78% to 12,696.30. The index has risen 1.52% in three sessions.

Biocon (up 3.21%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.42%), Lupin (up 2.21%), Granules India (up 1.89%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.7%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 1.63%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.48%), Gland Pharma (up 1.35%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 1.27%), Pfizer (up 0.68%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.62%), Strides Pharma Science (up 0.5%), Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (up 0.11%) and Divi`s Laboratories (up 0.04%) climbed.

Cipla gained 0.89% after the drug major announced that it has received final approval from the United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Lenalidomide capsule.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Cement stocks surged amid price hikes, petcoke cooling off and anticipation of volumes as well as demand rise in the second half of the current fiscal.

Shree Cement (up 7.01%), Ultratech Cement (up 4.13%), Ambuja Cements (up 2.66%), India Cements (up 1.74%) and Sagar Cements (up 1.21%) surged.

Container Corporation of India (Concor) jumped 8.58% after the media reported that the Union Cabinet has approved reduction in land licence fees (LLF) to 1.5% from 6% earlier. LLF is the fees container operators like Concor pay Indian Railways to use the latter`s land.

Arvind SmartSpaces jumped 6.31% after Quant Mutual Fund acquired 1.18% stake in the company via bulk deal on the BSE yesterday.

InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) fell 1.87%. The company on Tuesday announced that Petrus Johannes Theodorus Elbers has joined the company as chief executive officer (CEO).

Bharti Airtel fell 1.08% on high volumes after the counter reported multiple block deals in initial trade today, 7 September 2022. According to the media reports, 10.4 crore Bharti Airtel shares, or 1.9% equity, changed hands in opening trade today.

Lupin added 2.06%. The pharma major announced that it has signed an exclusive license and supply agreement with DKSH to commercialize five of Alvotech`s proposed biosimilars in the Philippines.

Astral jumped 4.18%. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the scheme of amalgamation of subsidiaries of Astral, Resinova Chemie and Astral Biochem with the company. On 5 September 2022, Astral obtained sanction from the NCLT, Ahmedabad Bench the scheme of amalgamation of Resinova Chemie and Astral Biochem with the company and their respective shareholders and creditors.

On 6 September 2022, the company received certified copy from NCLT and has filed the same with the Registrar of Companies on the same day. Hence, the scheme of amalgamation has become effective from 6 September, 2022.

Coal India (CIL) advanced 2.58%. The government-owned coal miner said that its production increased by 44.6 million tonnes (MTs) in just 5 months and 4 days of the ongoing fiscal, as of 4 September, eclipsing the previous best of 44.5 MTs registered in FY`16, which though was for the entire year.

Paras Defence and Space Technologies gained 2.85% after the company said that it has entered into an exclusive teaming agreement with ELDIS Pardubice s.r.o., Czech Republic to provide Turnkey Anti-Drone Systems for Civilian Airports in India.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank received bids for 2.49 crore shares as against 87.12 lakh shares on offer, according to stock exchange data 17:06 IST on Wednesday (7 September 2022). The issue was subscribed 2.86 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Monday (5 September 2022) and it will close on Wednesday (7 September 2022). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 500-525 per share.

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