Equity indices on low swing, private banks lag

New Delhi: Equity benchmark gauges were on a weak ground during early hours on Thursday, a day after the government released data on inflation and factory output which quashed hopes for an immediate cut in key interest rates.

India’s retail inflation for January rose by 7.59 year-on-year while Dec 2019 industrial production contracted by 0.3 per cent.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex edged lower by 108 points or 0.2 per cent to 41,458 while the Nifty 50 was down by 37 points at 12,164.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty private bank down by 0.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped by 1.6 per cent at Rs 1,687 per share while IndusInd Bank was down by 1.2 per cent and Axis Bank by 1.1 per cent.

The other prominent losers were Adani Ports, HCL Technologies, Maruti, Cipla and power utility major NTPC.

However, Yes Bank added gains of 3.7 per cent at Rs 36.50 per share while State Bank of India moved up by 2.2 per cent. Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Nestle India and Dr Reddy’s traded with a positive bias

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets wobbled as the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the outbreak’s epicentre jumped.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was steady while Japan’s Nikkei was flat. The Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng wavered either side of unchanged.

China’s Hubei province, where the virus is believed to have originated, reported 242 new deaths — double the previous day’s toll — and confirmed 14,840 new cases a day earlier as officials adopted a new methodology for counting infections.

(ANI)