The benchmark indices were trading modest losses in afternoon trade, dragged by bank and auto stocks. Metal, IT and FMCG bucked the weak market trend. The Nifty regained the 17,500 level after hitting the day's low of 17,462.55 in afternoon trade.
At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 163.42 points or 0.28% at 58,624.60. The Nifty 50 index lost 42.95 points or 0.24% at 17,517.25.
Reliance Industries (RIL) (down 0.93%), ICICI Bank (down 0.95%) and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) (down 0.74%) were major drags.
Selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.48%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.28%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,586 shares rose and 1,683 shares fell. A total of 100 shares were unchanged.
Tata Steel (up 1.45%) and Shree Cement (up 0.27%) will announce their quarterly results today.
COVID-19 Update:
India added 1,49,394 new cases in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate stood at 9.27%. The country's active caseload currently stood at 14,35,569.
Gainers & Losers:
Hindalco Industries (up 2.11%), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.88%), Ultratech Cement Co. (up 1.48%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (up 1.31%) and JSW Steel (up 0.90%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Hero MotoCorp (down 2.21%), State Bank of India (SBI) (down 2.20%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 2.16%), Eicher Motors (down 1.93%) and SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.59%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Stocks in Spotlight:
GAIL (India) rose 1.06%. The state-run company's consolidated net profit soared 100.31% to Rs 380 crore on a 66.98% surge in revenue from operations to Rs 2,617.56 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) surged 105.46% to Rs 481.98 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 234.58 crore in Q3 FY21. GAIL (India) has recorded a good financial performance in the third quarter of FY2021-22 on account of improved gas marketing spread, better product prices and improved operating efficiency in petrochemicals and liquid hydrocarbons.
EIH dropped 3.56%. The firm's consolidated net profit stands at Rs 40.80 crore in Q3 December 2021 as compared to a net loss of Rs 55.78 crore in Q3 December 2020. Consolidated net sales surged 103.9% to Rs 365.38 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Rs 179.16 crore in Q3 December 2020. Pre-tax gains stood at Rs 56.10 crore in Q3 FY22 as against pre-tax loss of Rs 67.41 crore in Q3 FY21.
Inox Leisure shed 1.29%. The company commenced the commercial operations of a multiplex cinema theatre taken on a management contract basis, located at INOX Leisure, in Thiruvalam Road, Katpadi, Vellore (Tamil Nadu) with effect from today, i.e. Friday, 4 February 2022. The multiplex cinema theatre has three screens and 483 seats. INOX is now present in 71 cities with 159 multiplexes, 670 screens and a total seating capacity of 1,51,104 seats across India.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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