The domestic equity benchmarks ended with minor cuts after a volatile session on Thursday. The Nifty settled below 16,850 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,026.05 in the early trade. Pharma, PSU bank and media stocks were in demand. On the other hand, IT, financial services and auto shares were under pressure. Investors awaited the outcome of a key meeting of the RBI's monetary policy committee due this week for domestic cues.

Trading was volatile as traders roll over positions in the F&O segment from the near month September series to October series. The September 2022 F&O contracts will expire today, 29 September 2022.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 188.32 points or 0.33% to 56,409.96. The Nifty 50 index lost 40.50 points or 0.24% to 16,818.10. In seven consecutive sessions, the Sensex has slipped 5.54% while the Nifty has tumbled 5.6%.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.31% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.63%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,893 shares rose and 1,533 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

Meanwhile, the NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 3.58% to 21.30.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s six-member Monetary Policy Committee began on 28 September 2022. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the MPC decision on 30 September 2022, the last date of the meeting. The RBI is widely expected to maintain the balancing act between growth and inflation.

In the past three policy reviews, the RBI's rate-setting panel has raised 140 basis points in total since May this year. Currently, the repo rate, the interest rate at which the RBI lends to the commercial bank, stands at 5.40%.

Economy:

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday (28 September 2022) approved the release of additional installment of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief at 4% to Central Government employees and pensioners due from 1 July 2022.

The additional financial implications on account of this increase of Dearness Allowance to Central Government employees are estimated at Rs 6,591.36 crore per annum; and Rs 4,394.24 crore in the financial year 2022-23 (i.e. for a period of 8 months from July 2022 to February 2023).

The additional financial implications on account of this increase of Dearness Relief to pensioners are estimated at Rs 6,261.20 crore per annum; and Rs 4,174.12 crore in the financial year 2022-23 (i.e. for a period of 8 months from July 2022 to February 2023).

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index rose 1.33% to 12,874.30, extending its winning streak for the third session. The index added 3.2% in three trading sessions.

Abbott India (up 5.84%), Zydus Lifesciences (up 4.17%), Torrent Pharmaceuticals (up 3.75%), Natco Pharma (up 2.53%), Dr Reddys Laboratories (up 2.11%), Cipla (up 2.04%), Granules India (up 1.92%), Pfizer (up 1.88%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.87%) and Laurus Labs (up 1.72%) edged higher.

On the other hand, Strides Pharma Science (down 4.06%), Lupin (down 1.07%) and Alkem Laboratories (down 1%) declined.

Lupin fell 1.07% after the company said its Tarapur facility in Maharashtra has received US drug regulator's warning letter. This action follows the inspection of the unit by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) from 22 March 2022 to 4 April 2022. Lupin said it believes that the USFDA warning letter will not impact the supplies or the existing revenues from operations of this facility.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Enterprises (AEL) slipped 2.37%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiaries, Budaun Hardoi Road (BHRPL), Hardoi Unnao Road (HURPL) and Unnao Prayagraj Road (UPRPL) have achieved financial closure for the access-controlled six lane (expandable to eight lane) greenfield Ganga Expressway project (Group-II, III & IV) in Uttar Pradesh respectively on design, build, finance, operate, transfer (DBFOT) (Toll) basis under public private partnership (PPP) mode. The project concession period is for 30 years with traffic link extension provision of 6 years, including three years construction period, the company stated. Adani Enterprises has secured Rs 10,238 crore from the lenders to finance the construction of the Ganga Expressway.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures rose 0.77% after the company announced that its board on Monday, 3 October 2022, will consider and approve the issuance of bonus shares to the equity shareholders of the company.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals advanced 3.62% after the pharma company said that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) had inspected its manufacturing facility at Indrad, Gujarat from 19 September 2022 to 28 September 2022. At the end of the inspection, the company was issued a “Form 483” with 3 observations.

Genesys International Corporation added 0.28% after the company announced collaboration with Bentley Systems to provide 3D mapping capabilities for major cities across India. The company announced that its 3D City Digital Twin Solution for Urban India will be powered by OpenCities 365, Bentley Systems' infrastructure digital twin solution for cities and campuses. This massive mapping and surveying project has begun and will capture most of urban India.

Bayer Cropscience rose 1.47%. The company said that its board has approved the sale of its Environmental Science Business to 2022 ES Discovery India on a slump sale basis, for a consideration of Rs 111.1 crore. The company's Environmental Science Business offers solutions to control pests, diseases and weeds in non-agricultural areas such as vector control and professional pest management.

Adani Green Energy skid 2.86%. The company has announced the commissioning of 600 MW wind-solar hybrid power plant at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The plant has power purchase agreements (PPA) with SECI at Rs 2.69 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 25 years, the power producer said.

The Ramco Cements gained 1.07% after the company said that it has commissioned its fifth cement plant at Kolumigundla, Andhra Pradesh. The plant has a clinkerisation capacity of 2.25 million tonnes per annum. The project cost of the plant is Rs 3,000 crore. The company said that the plant is equipped with facilities to ensure operational efficiency and pollution free environment. The plant is capable of manufacturing various types of cement as per BIS specifications.

C.E. Info systems (MapMyIndia) gained 2.73%. The company entered into a MoU with Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi to develop a web-application tool for ensuring effective sighting of EV charging stations.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones index futures were down 248 points, indicating a negative opening in the US market today.

Shares in Europe declined while Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday.

US stocks staged a comeback on Wednesday as the Bank of England said it would intervene in the bond market to stabilize conditions.

The Bank of England said on Wednesday that it would buy as many long-dated government bonds as needed between now and October 14 to stabilise financial markets, and added that it would postpone next week's start of its gilt sale programme.

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