The key equity indices traded with minor losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 23,650 mark after hitting the day’s high of 23,689.85 in mid-afternoon trade. Oil & gas shares advanced after declining in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 131.29 points or 0.17% to 78,116.84. The Nifty 50 index shed 10.50 points or 0.04% to 23,634.40.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.15% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.52%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,114 shares rose and 1,796 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained 1.19% to 10,757.90. The index fell 0.83% in past two consecutive trading sessions.

Oil India (up 3.17%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 2.75%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.41%), Indraprastha Gas (up 2.06%), Castrol India (up 1.89%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 1.59%), GAIL (India) (up 1.53%), Aegis Logistics (up 1%), Petronet LNG (up 0.99%) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 0.81%) advanced.

On the other hand, Adani Total Gas (down 2.62%), Gujarat Gas (down 0.53%) and Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.51%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper slipped 0.17% to 6.874 as compared with the previous close of 6.886.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.6000, compared with its close of 85.5250 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 February 2025 settlement rose 0.36% to Rs 76,535.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.19% to 107.92.

The United States 10-year bond yield declined 0.68% to 4.514.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2025 settlement added 54 cents, or 0.73% to $74.53 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Venus Remedies jumped 4.61% after the company received good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification from Ministry of Health of Moldova for the company’s antibiotic -Carbapenem facility.

Shares of Adani Wilmar dropped 6.69% and Adani Enterprises (AEL) declined 2.61% after AEL informed that it has signed an agreement with Wilmar International to exit from the joint venture (JV), Adani Wilmar.