Benchmarks continue to trade lower; European mkt declines

Key equity indices continued to trade in negative terrain with moderate losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below 21,700 level. Media, oil & gas and PSU bank shares advanced while IT, pharma and healthcare stocks declined.

At 13:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 291.19 points or 0.41% to 71,264. The Nifty 50 index lost 72.35 points or 0.33% to 21,670.90

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.11% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.78%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,169 shares rose and 1,602 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is 0.27% (Provisional) for the month of January, 2024 (over January, 2023), according to data from Ministry of Commerce & Industry today. The inflation stood at 0.73% in December.

Positive rate of inflation in January, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, machinery & equipment, other manufacturing, minerals, other transport equipment etc. The month over month change in WPI index for the month of January, 2024 stood at -0.33 % as compared to December, 2023.

Gainers & Losers:

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) (up 5.56%), State Bank of India (SBI) (up 2.56%), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (up 2.43%), Coal India (up 1.97%) and Bajaj Auto (up 1.46%) major Nifty gainers.

Cipla (down 3.03%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.59%), Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (down 2.29%), Infosys (down 2.21%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.05%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Oil India rallied 4.21% after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,584.28 in Q3 FY24, steeply higher than Rs 325.31 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations declined marginally to Rs 5,323.74 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 5342.36 crore reported in Q2 FY24.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises jumped 5.51% after the media major�s consolidated net profit (from continuing operations) declined 6.47% to Rs 53.34 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 57.03 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations in Q3 FY24 was at Rs 2,045.7 crore, down 3% from Rs 2,108.8 crore posted in the same period a year ago.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose 0.78%. The company reported 17.4% increase in net profit to Rs 299.99 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with Rs 255.52 crore posted in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations jumped 21.81% to Rs 1,118.30 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with Rs 918.06 crore in Q3 FY23.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) rallied 3.31% after the company posted a standalone net loss of Rs 163 crore in Q3 FY24 as against a net profit of Rs 31 crore in Q3 FY23. The public sector undertaking�s income from operations rose by 7% YoY to Rs 5,273 crore in the third quarter.

JSW Steel shed 0.97%. The steel major said that its consolidated crude steel production for the month of January 2024 grew 7% to 23.62 lakh tonnes from 22.02 lakh tonnes steel produced in January 2023.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks declined on Wednesday, tracking a similar move on the Wall Street, as higher-than-expected U.S. CPI data pushed back traders` expectation of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve anytime soon. Mainland China`s financial markets remain closed for the week.

Wall Street`s main indices tumbled on Tuesday after a higher-than-expected consumer inflation reading pushed back market expectations of imminent interest rate cuts, driving US Treasury yields higher.

US Consumer Price Index rose by 3.1% for the 12 months ended in January, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Tuesday. That marks a step back from December`s 3.4% rate and a dramatic cooling from the 6.4% increase seen in January 2023. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.3% in January.

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