The key equity benchmarks ended with limited losses after a volatile session on Wednesday. The Nifty closed below the 17,650 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,666.15 in afternoon trade. IT, PSU bank and FMCG shares led the losses while metal, oil & gas and pharma stocks managed to end with some gains.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 159.21 points or 0.27% to 59,567.80. The Nifty 50 index lost 41.40 points or 0.23% to 17,618.75.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.18% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.12%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,817 shares rose and 1,695 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.
Investors turned cautious as uncertainty over the path of U.S. monetary policy largely outweighed optimism over an economic recovery in China. Focus is now on the Fed's Beige Book report, due later on Wednesday, for the central bank's take on the state of the U.S. economy.
Market concerns about rising interest rates returned in recent sessions as hawkish comments from Fed officials and indications of some economic resilience in the US stoked apprehension about when the Fed Fed will pause its rate hike cycle.
COVID-19 Update:
According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday, India has logged 10,542 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 63,562. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,48,45,401). The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.39 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was pegged at 5.1 per cent. Recovery rate currently stands at 98.67%.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index fell 1.85% to 26,664.55. The index had advanced 0.59% to end at 26,664.55 yesterday.
Coforge (down 3.21%), LTI Mindtree (down 2.98%), HCL Technologies (down 2.44%), Infosys (down 2.14%) and Wipro (down 1.96%) were the top losers.
Among the other losers were Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.26%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.07%), Persistent Systems (down 0.85%), L&T Technology Services (down 0.44%).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Tata Communications (down 1.79%), ICICI Securities (down 0.16%), Mastek (down 0.20%), Alok Industries (up 1.20%) are some of the companies that will announce their quarterly earnings today.
State Bank of India (SBI) fell 1.15%. The executive committee of the central Board has approved long term fund raising in single / multiple tranches up to US$ 2 billion through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US Dollar or any other convertible currency during FY 2023-24.
Pidilite Industries lost 1.02%. The company has entered into an agreement with Basic Adhesives LLC, USA for purchase of certain assets comprising of technology, design, trademark, copyright, domain name and trade dress etc at an agreed consideration to be paid by company in tranches over a period of time.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company tumbled 4.91%. The company reported net profit of Rs 436.96 crore in Q4 March 2023 as compared to net profit of Rs 312.51 crore in Q4 March 2022. Total income rose to Rs 5255.58 crore in Q4 March 2023 from Rs 4636.34 crore in Q4 March 2022.
Bank of India slipped 1.14%. The bank's board of directors approved the raising of capital for the FY 2023-24 aggregating up to Rs 6,500 crore, through the issue of fresh equity capital in the form of FPO/QIP/Rights issue/preferential issue and/or Basel III compliant additional Tier-1 (AT-1) upto an amount of Rs.4,500 crores, and issue of Basel III compliant Tier-2 bonds upto an amount of Rs.2,000 crore.
Piramal Pharma jumped 7.57%. The company informed that US FDA has issued an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) for the manufacturing facility located at Sellersville, USA and the inspection has now been successfully closed by the US FDA.
Rattanindia Enterprises added 3.37%. The company announced that it has launched direct-to-consumer (D2C) apparel fashion brands business with its wholly owned subsidiary, Neobrands.
Som Distilleries & Breweries zoomed 6.52%. The company said it started commercial production at its expanded capacity at the facility in Hassan, Karnataka.
CMS Info Systems gained 2.59%. The company announced that the deployment of its proprietary security application 'ALGO OTC' across 30% ATMs in India. This application helps banks implement RBI guidelines on OTC lock activation to ensure the mitigation of risks during ATM operations and enhancing security, the company said. The company plans to further implement the software application ALGO OTC to existing 15,000 ATMs of the largest bank in India in CY2023.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe declined while Asian stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as officials of the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered mixed signals on future rate hikes.
U.K. consumer price inflation came in at 10.1% in March, down from 10.4% in February. Downward moves were driven by motor fuels, and housing and household services, while food and recreation/culture became more expensive.
With the consumer price inflation in the UK continuing to be above 10%, the Bank of England is expected to hike by 25 basis points at its May meeting.
Overnight in the US, all three major indexes closed near the flatline as investors digested earnings reports, including from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.
Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic reportedly said that he sees one more rate hike of 25 basis points, before pausing to see its impact on the economy. This would take the U.S. Federal Funds rate to 5% to 5.25%. Bostic's words come as St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard reportedly told that he favors a higher terminal rate of between 5.50% and 5.75%.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will deliver in a speech the economic priorities for the U.S. on China, as per reports. Yellen will deliver a speech at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies on Thursday.
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