Benchmarks trade with modest losses; Nifty hovers near 18,250

18 Nov 2022 , 01:33 PM

The key equity indices continued to trade in a narrow range with moderate losses in the afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 18,250 level. PSU Bank and media stocks advanced while auto, realty and consumer durable shares declined. At 13:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 237.04 points or 0.38% to 61,513.90. The Nifty 50 index lost 73.25 points or 0.40% to 18,270.65. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.51% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.36%. The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,346 shares rose, and 2,054 shares fell. A total of 142 shares were unchanged. Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.67%), Tata Motors (up 0.63%), State Bank of India (up 0.41%), Adani Enterprises (up 0.23%) and HCL Technologies (up 0.22%) were top Nifty gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.48%), Bajaj Finance (down 1.58%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (down 1.40%), Britannia Industries (down 1.29%) and Indusind Bank (down 1.22%) were major Nifty losers. Stocks in Spotlight: Ultratech Cement skid 0.95%. The cement maker has commenced operation at its third Birla White Wall Care Putty plant in Rajasthan with a capacity of 4 LMT per annum, at a total cost of Rs 187 crore. The companys existing two plants are situated at Kharia in Rajasthan and Katni in Madhya Pradesh. Vedanta rose 1.40% to Rs 311.50 after the mining company announced that its board will meet on Tuesday, 22 November 2022 to consider and approve third interim dividend for the financial year 2022-23. The record date for the interim dividend, if declared, is fixed on Wednesday, 30 November 2022. Bharat Electronics (BEL) slipped 2.22% to Rs 108.15. The PSU company has signed memorandum of understandings (MoU) with Armoured Vehicles Nigam and Advanced Weapons and Equipment India to meet the requirements of domestic and export markets. Eicher Motors declined 1.18% to Rs 3,403.05. The company appointed Vidhya Srinivasan as the chief financial officer (CFO) and key managerial personnel of the company with efffect from 18 November 2022. Global Markets: Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday with the biggest gains posted by technology stocks as investors looked past warnings by Federal Reserve officials of higher interest rates to fight inflation. Japans core consumer price index for October rose 3.6% compared to a year ago, higher than expected and at the fastest pace in 40 years. Wall Streets main indices ended modestly lower on Thursday as hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve official and data showing the labor market remained tight led some investors to worry about more aggressive interest rate hikes. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said policymakers should increase interest rates to at least 5% to 5.25% to curb inflation. He also warned of further financial stress ahead. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the week ended November 12, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Powered by Capital Market – Live News