Benchmarks nudge lower, Nifty below 21,750 mark

The key equity barometers were trading with minor losses in the early trade. The Nifty traded below the 21,750 mark. Pharma, healthcare and realty stocks advanced while IT, consumer durables and auto stocks declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 92.29 points or 0.13% to 72,179.65. The Nifty 50 index shed 18.60 points or 0.09% to 21,723.30.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.14% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.34%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,967 shares rose and 959 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 855.80 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 410.46 crore in the Indian equity market on 1 January, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharti Airtel gained 0.47%. As a part of group restructuring, Bharti Airtel Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Bharti Airtel Limited has entered into an agreement for acquisition of 49,45,239 equity shares representing 97.1% stake in another Bharti Group company, Beetel Teletech Limited, which also has 49% stake in Joint Venture having two manufacturing facilities which produce telecom and networking products including those qualifying for Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme.

Power Grid Corporation of India rose 0.50%. The company has been declared as successful bidder under Tariff Based Competitive Bidding to establish Inter-State Transmission System for �Transmission system for evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20GW) under Phase-III Part D � Phase I� on Build, Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.

Eicher Motors declined 1.37% after the auto maker�s total motorcycles (Royal Enfield) sales declined 7% to 63,387 units in December 2023 as against 68,400 units sold in December 2022.

TVS Motor Company added 0.03%. The company recorded monthly sales of 301,898 units in December 2023 with a growth of 25% as against 242,012 units in the month of December 2022.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.13% to 7.205 as compared with previous close 7.196.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.3175, compared with its close of 83.2150 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement added 0.17% to Rs 63,311.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.21% to 101.55.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 1.60% to 3.920.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2024 settlement rose $1.23 or 1.60% to $78.27 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Asian markets were trading mixed on the first trading day of the year. Japan was assessing the damage from a powerful earthquake that struck its central region on New Year�s Day. Markets in the region are closed until January 4.

A private survey showed manufacturing activity in China expanded in December. The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers� index came in at 50.8 in December, according to a release Tuesday, following a 50.7 reading for November. China�s official PMI fell to 49 in December from 49.4 the previous month, the country�s National Bureau of Statistics said in a Sunday release.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for New Year�s Day.

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