Sensex, Nifty trade flat; positive market breadth

18 Nov 2022 , 09:26 AM

The key equity indices fluctuated between gains and losses early trade as a tug of war among bears and bulls continued. The Nifty traded tad below the 18,350 level. Auto, pharma and FMCG stocks declined while IT, PSU banks and metal stocks advanced. At 09:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 18.31 points or 0.03% to 61,768.91. The Nifty 50 index added 2.25 points or 0.01% to 18,346.15. Asian Paints (up 1.29%), Tata Consumer (up 0.57%), Cipla (up 0.43%), Infosys (up 0.36%) and HDFC Life (up 0.35%) were the top Nifty gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.61%), Nestle India (down 0.96%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.83%), Britannia Industries (down 0.78%) and Titan Company (down 0.64%) were the top Nifty losers. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.09% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.10%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,489 shares rose, and 1,031 shares fell. A total of 118 shares were unchanged. Stocks in Spotlight: Vedanta rose 1.43%. The companys board of directors will consider the proposal for payment of third interim dividend for the financial year 2022-23 in the meeting to be held on 22 November 2022. The record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement of the equity shareholders for the dividend is 30 November 2022. UltraTech Cement added 0.43%. The company announced the commencement of the companys third Birla White Wall Care Putty plant at Nathdwara, Rajasthan with a capacity of 4 LMT per annum, at a total cost of Rs. 187 crore. The company now has a Wall Care Putty capacity of 13.0 LMT per annum, further strengthening its position in the markets. Bharat Electronics (BEL) shed 0.36%. Navratna defence PSU BEL has signed a MoU with Advanced Weapons and Equipment India (AWEIL), a Defence PSU, to jointly address the requirements of Indian Defence and Export markets. The MoU aims at leveraging the complementary strengths and capabilities of BEL and AWEIL to address domestic and export opportunities in the areas of Air Defence, Artillery Gun Systems, Medium Caliber Weapons, Small Arms and related systems. Global Markets: Asian stocks edged higher 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