Indices drift lower amid weak global cues; Nifty holds 17,000 mark

27 Jan 2022 , 09:35 AM

The benchmark indices started off on a weak note during early morning trade amid weak Asian stocks, worries of US Fed interest hike, geo-political tensions of Russia invading Ukraine and rising crude oil prices. Barring Nifty PSU Bank, the sectoral indices declined across the board. The Nifty held its crucial 17,000 level.

Meanwhile, the buildup to the upcoming budget session would be the key event that the market would be looking for in the near future. The Budget session of Parliament is set to commence on 31 January 2022 and will conclude on 8 April 2022. The government will present the Budget for fiscal 2022-23 on 1 February 2022. The Economic Survey is likely to be tabled on 31 January 2022 after the presidents address, as per reports. The investors will also continue to monitor the situation surrounding the omicron COVID-19 variant.

On the political front, developments in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, and Manipur will be closely watched. Polls in all the five states will be held between 10 February 2022 and 7 March 2022 in seven phases. The counting of votes and the result will be declared on 10 March 2022.

At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 934.98 points or 1.62% at 56,923.17. The Nifty 50 index lost 267.85 points or 1.55% at 17,010.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.35% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.38%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,018 shares rose and 1,681 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 7,094.48 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 4,534.53 crore in the Indian equity market on 25 January 2022, provisional data showed.

Upcoming Results:

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Punjab National Bank (PNB), RBL Bank, Canara Bank, AIA Engineering, Arvind, Aurionpro Solutions, Birlasoft, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Chalet Hotels, Coforge, Colgate-Palmolive, Dalmia Bharat, Exxaro Tiles, Fino Payments Bank, GHCL, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Home First Finance Company, HSIL, Laurus Labs, LIC Housing Finance, Mahindra Logistics, CE Info Systems, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Nippon Life India Asset Management, PSP Projects, Route Mobile, Transport Corporation of India, Wabco India and Wockhardt will announce their quarterly results today.

Economy:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for growth in Indias gross domestic product (GDP) in FY23 by 50 basis points (bps) to 9%. Indias GDP growth forecast for FY24 was also raised by 50 bps to 7.1%. Explaining the upward revision in an update to its World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said it expects an improvement in Indias credit growth which would boost consumption and investment and better-than-anticipated performance of the financial sector.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Wipro declined 2.66%. The IT major completed the acquisition of additional 13.3% equity stake in Encore Theme. Consequently, the companys holding in Encore Theme increased from 83.4% to 96.7%.

Cipla fell 1.72%. The pharma major reported 2.6% fall in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 729 crore on 6% rise in total revenue from operations to Rs 5,479 crore in Q3 FY22 over in Q3 FY21.

United Spirits slipped 2.84%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 295.3 crore in Q3 FY22 as against Rs 280.3 crore in Q3FY21. Total income rose to Rs 8,917.3 crore from Rs 8,429.1 crore Y-o-Y (year-on-year) in Q3 FY22.

Raymond rallied 2.97%. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 100 crore in Q3 FY22 as against Rs 22 crore in Q3 FY21. Net revenue rose 45% to Rs 1,871 crore from Rs 1,286 crore Y-o-Y in Q3 FY22. The board of directors approved the real estate business division to be subsidiarized into wholly owned subsidiary of Raymond.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading lower on Thursday as investors digest an overnight update from the U.S. Federal Reserve that indicated the central bank plans to raise interest rates as soon as March. The Taiwan market is closed for a holiday on Thursday.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled an interest rate hike could be coming soon, while supply concerns stemming from tension between Russia and Ukraine saw oil prices touch highs not seen since 2014.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it is likely to hike interest rates in March and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month in what U.S. central bank chief Jerome Powell pledged will be a sustained battle to tame inflation.

The committee is of a mind to raise the federal funds rate at the March meeting assuming that the conditions are appropriate for doing so, Powell said in a news conference, pinning down a policy statement from the central banks Federal Open Market Committee that only said rates would rise soon.

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