Benchmarks turn positive; breadth remains strong

The domestic equity barometers reversed losses and traded with small gains in afternoon trade. At 13:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 107.16 points or 0.18% to 58,573.05. The Nifty 50 index added 59.5 points or 0.34% to 17,476.05.

The broader market outperformed the front-line indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 1.45% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.50%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2288 shares rose and 900 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

SBI Research has upgraded India's GDP growth projection for financial year 2022 to the range of 9.3%-9.6% from its earlier estimates of 8.5%-9%. The revised GDP estimate of SBI Research is in-line with RBI's projection of 9.5% GDP growth for the current fiscal year.

The projection comes as the country recorded only 11% increase in COVID-19 cases during the July-September quarter of 2021, second-lowest among the top 15 most affected countries

Mentioning reasons behind its revised estimates, SBI Research said that India remained unscathed in Quarter 3 from the global situation, which is marred by supply disruptions, stubborn inflation and surges of infections during Q3 2021.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Greaves Cotton jumped 8.94% to Rs 158.40. Greaves Electric Mobility, the e-mobility arm of Greaves Cotton and one of the market leaders in the E-2W and E-3W segments, inaugurated its largest EV production facility in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu.

Equitas Small Finance Bank gained 0.80% to Rs 63.05. The bank has announced partnership with HDFC Bank for the launch of its new co-branded credit cards, to provide the company with the facilities of the banking ecosystem.

UltraTech Cement added 0.35% to Rs 7676.15. Fitch Ratings has affirmed UltraTech Cement's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings (IDR) at 'BBB-'. The outlook on the foreign-currency IDR is 'negative' and that on the local-currency IDR is 'stable'.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, 23 November 2021, as investors watched for market reaction to US President Joe Biden picking Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair. Markets in Japan are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

The S&P 500 ended lower and the Nasdaq tumbled deep into negative territory on Monday after both earlier hit record highs following the announcement of a second term for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended slightly higher.

Biden had been under pressure to name a more progressive Democrat, rather than keep Republican Powell in the role. Powell has guided the U.S. central bank and the country's economy through the pandemic recession, unleashing unprecedented monetary stimulus to keep financial markets afloat. His re-nomination now heads to the Senate for confirmation.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)