Market falls for 7th straight day; Nifty settles below 17,400; Bajaj Auto slips 5.43%

As per provisional closing basis, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 175.58 points or 0.30% to 59,288.35. The Nifty 50 index lost 73.10 points or 0.42% to 17,392.70. In seven consecutive session, the Sensex slipped 3.31% while the Nifty fell 3.57%.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.69% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.28%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 971 shares rose and 2,581 shares fell. A total of 183 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.18% to 13.8750.

A stronger-than-expected U. S. inflation, possibility of further rate hikes and a more hawkish Federal Reserve coupled with uncertainty over the recovery of the Chinese economy weighed on investor sentiment.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index declined 3.89% to 1,663.85. The index slipped 9.8% in seven trading sessions.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 6.44%), New Delhi Television (down 4.98%), PVR (down 4.33%), Dish TV India (down 3.45%), Navneet Education (down 2.3%), TV18 Broadcast (down 1.92%), Nazara Technologies (down 1.72%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 1.71%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 1.64%) and Sun TV Network (down 1.4%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

SpiceJet shed 0.76%. The low-cost air carrier said that its board has approved a proposal to transfer cargo business on a slump sale basis to its subsidiary and also raise fresh capital of upto Rs 2,500 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP). The board will seek the approval of members of the company for fundraise.

One 97 Communications (Paytm) rose 1.76%.

News reports suggested that Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Group was looking to buy stake in the fintech company.

According to the media reports, Sunil Mittal, the founder of Bharti Enterprises, wanted to merge Airtel Payments Bank with Paytm Payments Bank through a stock transaction and also wanted to purchase Paytm shares from other shareholders.

However, some other media reports suggested that the talks between Bharti Group and Paytm did not progress as the management of the fintech company declined to give up management control.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone added 0.66% after the company said that its handled cargo volumes had crossed the 300 million metric tonne (MMT) mark on Thursday (23 February 2023). The company registered the said the cargo volumes within a span of 329 days this year. Last year, APSEZ had recorded the aforementioned cargo volume after a period of 354 days.

Bajaj Auto slipped 5.43% on news reports that the two-wheeler major is expected to take an upto 25% cut in motorcycle and three-wheeler production across its export-focused plants next month. The media reported that the automaker is likely to produce around 250,000-270,000 units in March, compared with average production of 338,000 units in each of the first nine months of FY23.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories declined 2.40%. The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary Dr. Reddy's Laboratories SA has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the U. S. generic prescription product portfolio of Australia-based Mayne Pharma Group.

Power Grid Corporation of India advanced 2.21%. The power transmission company on Friday announced that its committee of directors on investment on projects has accorded investment approvals for various electricity transmission projects aggregating to Rs 803.57 crore.

Granules India declined 1.61%. The pharmaceutical company announced that it has received approval from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug and application (ANDA) for Losartan Potassium tablets.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones futures were up 140 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stock market today.

Shares in Europe advanced while Asian shares declined across the board on Monday, after major indexes on Wall Street recorded their worst week for 2023.

The US stocks declined on Friday, following a bigger-than-expected increase in the latest reading for personal consumption expenditures, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

The personal-consumption-expenditures price index showed the cost of U. S. goods and services jumped 0.6% in January, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report Friday.

The more closely followed core index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation measure, also rose 0.6% in January, climbing 4.7% over the past 12 months.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

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