BENCHMARKS TRADE WITH SIGNIFICANT LOSSES; EUROPEAN SHARES ADVANCE

The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 17,550 level after hitting day`s high of 17,599.75 in early trade.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 234.16 points or 0.39% to 59,371.64. The Nifty 50 index lost 75.55 points or 0.43% to 17,435.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.03%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,471 shares rose and 1,874 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The Finance Ministry released the monthly economic review for January 2023 which reported that the geopolitical tensions in Europe, spiralling energy, food and fertiliser prices, monetary tightening and inflationary trends have elevated the downside risks to the global economic outlook. Despite these headwinds, the Indian economy is estimated to grow by 7% YoY in FY23.

During the fourth quarter of 2022-23, various high-frequency indicators (HFIs) pointed towards a slowdown in general, as monetary tightening appeared to have started weakening global demand. This may continue in 2023 as various agencies have forecasted a decline in global growth. Apart from the lagged impact of monetary tightening, the uncertainties emanating from the lingering pandemic and relentless conflict in Europe may further dampen global growth.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 1.56%. As per media reports, ONGC will invest more than $2 billion in drilling a record 103 wells on its main gas-bearing asset in the Arabia Sea as it pivots a turnaround plan that will add 100 million tonnes to production.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises added 1.64%. As per latest media reports, the company has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) seeking relief in the bankruptcy court`s order that permitted initiating of insolvency proceedings against the media firm. This is an attempt to save the earlier proposed merger with Culver Max Entertainment (CME) as insolvency laws prohibit any transaction till bankruptcy cases are settled, the reports added.

Bharat Forge shed 0.12%. The company said that in order to house all defense related investments of the company under one entity, the `investment committee - Defence Business` of the company has approved the transfer of the company`s stake in Aeron Systems (Aeron) to Kalyani Strategic Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company (KSSL).

Sanofi India rose 3.90% after the company`s net profit surged 44.8% to Rs 130.9 crore in Q4 CY22 from Rs 90.40 crore in Q4 CY21. Revenue from operations fell 2.3% year on year (YoY) to Rs 671.90 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022.

Olectra Greentech surged 19.50%. The company announced that it has developed a Hydrogen bus with its technology partner, Reliance.

KFin Technologies rose 0.84%. The company announced its plans to invest in Fintech Products and Solutions for entering into the account aggregator business.

Global Markets:

European markets edged higher while their Asian peers traded mixed on Friday as investors digest a number of data releases and more company earnings.

Data released today showed that U.K. consumer confidence rebounded in February, with the GfK`s consumer confidence index climbing seven points to minus 38. While this is still close to the historic lows triggered by the cost-of-living crisis, it still represented a 10-month high.

The forward looking German GfK consumer climate index also improved to (-30.5) in March, from (-33.8) the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan governor nominee Kazuo Ueda has expressed support for the current monetary policy, as per reports. He added more time is needed to achieve the central bank`s inflation target and it aims to achieve price stability in a sustainable and stable manner.

Japan`s nationwide consumer price index rose 4.2% compared to a year ago in January, government data showed. The economy`s core CPI excluding fresh food and energy prices rose 3.2%, data showed, as overall CPI rose 4.3% year on year.

Wall Street ended higher on Thursday as investors grappled with how interest rate policy might affect the US economy.

US economic growth in the fourth quarter was weaker than previously estimated. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product, or the total value of all goods and services produced in the US, increased at a 2.7% annualized rate during the period, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. The figure compares with a previously reported 2.9% advance.

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