The key equity benchmarks continued traded with minor gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near 24,650 mark after hitting the day’s low of 24,583.85 in morning trade. Metal, auto and FMCG shares advanced while PSU bank, media and bank shares declined.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 98.84 points or 0.12% to 81,609.27. The Nifty 50 index added 40.75 points or 0.17% to 24,650.80.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.18% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.39%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,159 shares rose and 1,764 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.

Gainer & Losers:

Bajaj Finance (up 2.24%), Shriram Finance (up 2.23%), Britannia Industries (up 1.95%), Asian Paints (up 1.40%) and Nestle India (up 1.35%) were the major Nifty gainers.

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone (down 1.05%), HCL Technologies (down 0.64%), Adani Enterprises (down 0.56%), State Bank of India (down 0.56%) and JSW Steel (down 0.45%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Senco Gold fell 0.92%. The company announced that its board has approved the opening of issue of qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares with the floor price of Rs 1,139.49 per share.

NTPC Green Energy advanced 0.92%. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, NTPC Renewable Energy (NTPC REL) has secured 500 MW of solar power capacity at a tariff of Rs 3.52 per KWh from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

H.G. Infra Engineering rallied 4.03% after the company said that it has received letter of award (LoA) from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) for a hybrid annuity model (HAM) project in Uttar Pradesh.

Saakshi Medtech and Panels hit an upper circuit of 10% after the company announced that it has received letter of business award (LoBA) worth Rs 250 crore from Mahindra & Mahindra for Supply of EV Panels.

PNC Infratech jumped 9.32% after its subsidiary, Hathras Highways received provisional completion certificate for Uttar Pradesh-based national highway project awarded by NHAI on HAM dated 7 December 2023.

Poonawalla Fincorp rose 1.59% after the company’s nomination and remuneration committee, had approved the appointment of Salil Hajarnis as the chief technology officer (CTO) of the company.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals declined 1.34%. The company has successfully completed the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) GMP audit at active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)-II Facilty at Panelav for its 8 APIs. The inspection was conducted from 16 to 20 September 2024.

Global Markets:

European stocks declined while most of the Asian markets advanced on Wednesday as investors eagerly awaited the release of key US inflation data. The data is expected to provide crucial insights into the Federal Reserve's potential interest rate decision next week.

Meanwhile, China is gearing up for its annual economic work conference, where policymakers will outline the nation's economic agenda for the coming year. Recent strong stimulus signals from top Chinese leaders have boosted market sentiment, with President Xi Jinping expressing confidence in achieving the country's growth target.

In the US, stocks retreated for a second consecutive day, primarily due to weakness in the technology sector. Investors remained cautious ahead of the inflation report and the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,034.91 points on Tuesday. The NASDAQ Composite fell 0.2% to 19,688.98 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 44,247.83 points.

Google owner Alphabet Inc. was a standout performer, rising 0.6% after hours following a 5.6% jump during the session. The company announced a new breakthrough in quantum computing, which could herald a sharp increase in computing speeds.

Investors are also seeking more cues on what President-elect Donald Trump’s policies will entail for inflation and the economy, with his plans for increased trade tariffs expected to increase price pressures.