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The domestic equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,100 level after hitting the day's high of 17,224.65 in morning trade. PSU bank stocks tumbled for the fourth consecutive trading session.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 248.39 points or 0.43% to 57,989.46. The Nifty 50 index rose 84.60 points or 0.49% to 17,069.70.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.87% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.12%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 963 shares rose and 2,162 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,546.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,418.58 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 March, provisional data showed.
The turmoil in the US banking space with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the closure of New York-based Signature Bank dampened the investors sentiment. Meanwhile, traders will keep a close eye on the U.S. consumer price index for February, due to be released later in the day.
Economy:
Retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), eased marginally in February but remained stubbornly above the 6% mark for the second straight month. Data released on Monday revealed that retail inflation stood at 6.44% in February against 6.52% in January. It stood at 6.07% a year ago. Both food and core inflation remained sticky and elevated at over 6% last month and the price pressures were higher in rural areas than urban centres.
New listing:
Shares of Divgi TorqTransfer Systems were currently trading at Rs 570 at 10:13 IST on the BSE, a discount of 3.39% as against the issue price of Rs 590.
The scrip was listed at Rs 600, representing a premium of 1.69% as compared to the issue price.
So far, it has hit a high of 615.75 and a low of 561.75 during the trading session. Over 2.08 lakh shares of the company had changed hands in the counter till now.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank index declined 1.69% to 3,683.05. The index slumped 7.66% in four trading sessions.
Bank of India (down 2.92%), Indian Bank (down 2.82%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 2.31%), Central Bank of India (down 1.98%), Union Bank of India (down 1.59%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 1.57%), UCO Bank (down 1.18%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.1%), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 0.95%) and Canara Bank (down 0.94%) tumbled.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Lupin added 0.18%. The global pharmaceutical firm said that the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) had completed an inspection of its Pune-based Bioresearch Centre. The inspection closed without any observation.
Krsnaa Diagnostics rose 0.88% after the company announced that it has won a tender to provide services of lab investigation facilities under 践induhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thakeray Chikitsa' in Mumbai. The scope of order includes providing services of lab investigation facilities for BMC dispensaries and hospitals in Mumbai in the month of January 2023. The company said that it has operationalized 100 more pathology collection centers.
Axita Cotton fell 1.43% after the company received contract from Bangladesh's Taraspinning Mills and Khadiza Sadek Spinning Mills for Indian raw cotton, aggregating $2,716,091.84. The sales contract will be executed by 30 April 2023.
