Sensex, Nifty Fall; Adani Group Stocks Up: Midday Market Wrap

The Indian benchmark indices declined in trade through midday after opening with slim gains amid volatility on Tuesday.

Stocks in Asia advanced along with U.S. and European equity futures. The dollar slid ahead of commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later on Tuesday that may shape views on the central bank’s rate path.

Some of the strongest gains Tuesday were in tech stocks listed in Hong Kong. Baidu Inc. surged as much as 18% after affirming it will launch a ChatGPT-like bot in March.

Adani Group company stocks, on the other hand, reversed losses, and all 10 of them were trading higher with the exception of Adani Power Ltd. and Adani Total Gas Ltd.

As of 12:48 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex was down 332 points, or 0.55%, at 60,174.61, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 78 points, or 0.44%, lower at 17,686.20.

Adani Enterprises Ltd., Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd., Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., and Bajaj Finance Ltd. were the top gainers in the gauge.

Whereas, Tata Steel Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., ITC Ltd., Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., and Infosys Ltd. were the top losers amongst the NSE Nifty 50 constituents.

The broader market indices were trading lower; S&P BSE MidCap was down 0.24%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap was lower by 0.33%.

Fifteen out of the 19 sectors compiled by BSE declined, while only four advanced in trade.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bears. About 1,422 stocks rose, 1,950 declined, and 157 remained unchanged on the BSE.