Barometers reverse gains; broader mkt underperforms; European mkt declines

The domestic equity benchmarks pared all gains and traded with minor losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,500 level after hitting the day's high of 25,482.20 in afternoon trade. IT, pharma and metal shares declined while financial services, bank and private bank shares advanced.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 158.84 points or 0.18% to 82,928.39. The Nifty 50 index fell 61.85 points or 0.24% to 25,356.70.

The Sensex and Nifty clocked an all-time high of 83,326.38 and 25, 25,482.20, respectively in afternoon trade.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.85% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.60%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,470 shares rose and 2,417 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Shriram Finance (up 3.66%), Bajaj Finance (up 3.14%), ICICI Bank (up 1.79%), Bajaj Finserv (up 1.42%) and State Bank of India (up 1.39%) were major Nifty gainers.

Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.58%), HCL Technologies (down 3.29%), Infosys (down 2.99%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.97%), and Wipro (down 2.91%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Reliance Infrastructure jumped 7.55% after the company announced significant progress in settling its outstanding debts from Rs 3,831 crore to Rs 475 crore.

NTPC shed 0.24%. The company said that the Union Government has accorded approval to the proposal for the formation of Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam (ASHVINI), a joint venture between the company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The government has also approved exemption to NPCIL to invest more than Rs 500 crore and exemption to NTPC to invest more than Rs 5000 crore in a single JV/subsidiary company.

Aurobindo Pharma declined 1.67%. The company's a stepdown subsidiary, Eugia Pharma Specialities received establishment inspection report (EIR) from the US drug regulator for its manufacturing facility situated in Parawada Mandal, Andhra Pradesh.

Torrent Power rallied 6.75% after the company announced that it has emerged as a successful bidder and has received letter of intent (LOI) for a pump storage project from MSEDCL.

Inox Wind (IWL) advanced 2.66% after the company announced that it has received a letter of intent (LoI) from IGREL Renewables (IGREL) for execution of 550 MW wind capacity on turnkey basis.

Avantel rallied 4.86% after the company said that it has received a purchase order worth of Rs 9.39 crore from NewSpace India.

Ceigall India gained 4.30% after the company said that it has emerged as lowest bidder (L1) for two projects in Uttar Pradesh for an aggregate value of Rs 2,498.5 crore.

Vakrangee zoomed 10.51% after the company informed strategic corporate agency tie-up with Star Health & Allied Insurance Co. (Star Health Insurance), to offer health insurance products across its network.

Global Markets:

Most European stocks declined as U.K. inflation figures for August were published on Wednesday, coming in at 2.2% according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Asian shares traded higher on Wednesday. The Investors await the Federal Reserve's rate decision due Wednesday stateside and assessed economic data from Japan. Indonesian central bank's rate decision is also due later in the day.

While Chinese markets remained relatively stable after resuming trading from an extended break, investors also looked ahead to the Bank of Japan's policy meeting later in the week. The BoJ is expected to maintain current interest rates but may adopt a more hawkish stance, signaling potential future rate hikes.

Japan's imports and exports in August rose 2.3% and 5.6%, respectively, from a year ago, according to Japan's Ministry of Finance.

In the United States, stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday as uncertainty persisted regarding the magnitude of the Federal Reserve's anticipated rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04% while the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, reversing momentum from earlier in the day, when they were at or near record levels. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, finished higher by 0.2%.

Market participants are widely expecting the Fed to reduce interest rates, with opinions divided between a 25 or 50 basis point cut. However, bets on a larger 50 basis point reduction have been gaining momentum. Additionally, the Fed's announcement is anticipated to signal the beginning of an easing cycle, which is generally positive for risk-oriented stock markets.

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