BROADER MKT OUTPERFORMS; REALTY SHARES RALLY FOR 2ND DAY

The domestic equity barometers traded sideways in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above 21,850 mark. Realty shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 150.64 points or 0.29% to 51,824.44. The Nifty 50 index added 28.95 points or 0.13% to 21,882.75.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.52% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.40%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,016 shares rose and 1,904 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index came at 61.8 in January, up from 59 in December, comfortably above the neutral level of 50 and pointed to the sharpest rate of expansion in six months. Moreover, the current sequence of uninterrupted increases was stretched to two-and-a-half years. According to survey participants, growth was spurred by demand buoyancy, productivity gains and rising intakes of new work.

The HSBC India Composite PMI Output Index rose to 61.2 in December from 58.5, indicating the sharpest upturn since mid-2023. January data highlighted a further acceleration in growth of Indian private sector output, amid quicker increases at both goods producers and service providers.

Meanwhile, India�s forex reserves increased $591 million to $616.733 billion for the week ended January 26, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $2.795 billion to $616.143 billion.

Gold reserves increased $269 million to $47.481 billion during the week, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up $27 million to $18.248 billion, the apex bank said.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index gained 1.49% to 868.95. The index advanced 2.45% in the two trading sessions.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers (up 8.34%), Phoenix Mills (up 4.8%), Macrotech Developers (up 3.07%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.54%), DLF (up 0.88%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.24%), Sobha (up 0.21%), Brigade Enterprises (up 0.09%) advanced.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.47% to 7.083 as compared with the previous close of 7.050.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.0600, compared with its close of 82.9800 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2024 settlement shed 0.46% to Rs 62,275.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.20% to 104.13.

The United States 10-year bond yield gained 1.49% to 4.095.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2024 settlement lost 47 cent or 0.61% to $77.80 a barrel.

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