The Nifty traded near the flat line with minor losses and the Sensex pared gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered around 17,600 level. Metal stocks extended losses for the third consecutive trading session.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 106.52 points or 18% to 60,038.76. The Nifty 50 index shed 12.75 points or 0.08% to 17,596.10.
Gains in the Nifty 50 index were capped due to steep selling in Adani Enterprises (down 20.22%), Adani Ports & SEZ (down 6.24%) and Ambuja Cements (down 3.66%).
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has put Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports & SEZ and Ambuja Cements under additional surveillance measure (ASM) framework effective 3 February 2023.
The broader market underperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.36% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.28%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 852 shares rose and 2,476 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.
India Services PMI:
The S&P Global India services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 57.2 in January as compared to 58.5 in December. It has been above the key level of 50 that separates growth from contraction for an eighteenth straight month.
Meanwhile, The S&P Global India Composite PMI Output Index fell from December's near 11-year high of 59.4 to 57.5 in January. Manufacturing production increased at a stronger rate than services activity, but growth moderated in both cases.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index slipped 4.26% to 5,656.55, extending losses for the third day. The index slumped 12.55% in three trading sessions.
Adani Enterprises (down 20.22%), Welspun Corp (down 9.25%), Hindustan Copper (down 7.68%), Vedanta (down 5.4%), National Aluminium Company (down 3.81%), Steel Authority of India (down 3.48%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.74%), MOIL (down 2.33%), Tata Steel (down 1.88%) and APL Apollo Tubes (down 1.49%) dropped.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone dropped 6.24%. The company said that it handled approximately 27.6 MMT of total cargo in January 2023, recording a growth of 11% year on year. The handled cargo volumes rose 9.96% as against with 25.1 MMT of total cargo handled in December 2022. During April 2022- January 2023, APSEZ clocked approximately 280.5 MMT, registering a growth of 8% year on year.
Fino Payments Bank fell 1.41%. The company reported 35.5% rise in net profit to Rs 19.1 crore on a 16.8% increase in net revenue to Rs 100.8 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.
Man Infraconstruction jumped 5.54% after the company's consolidated net profit surged 143.52% to Rs 84.77 crore on 54.07% rise in net sales to Rs 456.86 crore in Q3 December 2022 over Q3 December 2021.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday despite the Caixin purchasing managers' index showing services activity in China picked up in January.
China's service sector showed a rebound in the first month of 2023, according to the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI). The reading rose to 52.9 in January, from the business activity index of 48 seen in December.
The au Jibun Bank Japan services purchasing managers' index came in at 52.3 for the month of January, ticking higher than the previous reading of 51.1 seen in December.
US stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as investors turned their focus to a handful of key earnings reports due from mega-cap tech firms after the closing bell.
In Europe, the Bank of England raised interest rates by half a percentage point Thursday as it sought to tame double-digit inflation that is fueling a cost-of-living crisis, public-sector strikes and fears of recession. The bank's monetary policy committee voted 7-2 to push its key rate to 4%.
