The key equity indices declined further and hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty slided below the 18,450 mark. Auto shares witnessed some bit of selling pressure.

At 14:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 587.64 points or 0.94% to 61,983.04. The Nifty 50 index lost 174.40 points or 0.94% to 18,434.95.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.10% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.41%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 987 shares rose and 2486 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment was filled with optimism after China scaled back several anti-COVID movement curbs and testing measures this week, amid growing public ire towards the strict zero-COVID policy. The move drove up bets that the world's second-largest economy will recover sharply amid fewer COVID disruptions.

The U.S. producer price index, due later on Friday, is expected to show that inflation faced by the manufacturing sector eased further in November. The reading is also expected to herald a similar trend in the more closely watched consumer price index, which is due to be released next week. A higher than anticipated inflation could invite more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, given that the bank has signaled that its stance on monetary policy will be largely driven by the path of inflation.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 7.300 as compared with 7.288 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.2075, compared with its close of 82.3800 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 3 February 2023 settlement added 0.08% to Rs 54,093.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.02% to 104.75.

The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.49% to 3.476.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2023 settlement rose 40 cents or 0.53% to $76.55 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index slipped 0.80% to 12,805.45. The index had advanced 0.29% to end at 12,908.15 yesterday.

Bharat Forge (down 2.48%), Sona BLW Precision Forgings (down 2.14%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.79%), Tata Motors (down 1.68%) and Samvardhana Motherson International (down 1.63%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.52%), Balkrishna Industries (down 1.38%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.35%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.94%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.87%).

On the other hand, Tube Investments of India (up 1.55%) and Eicher Motors (up 0.27%) turned up.

Stocks in Spotlight:

State Bank of India (SBI) shed 0.15%. SBI said that its board will meet on Wednesday, 14 December 2022 to consider the proposal of fund raising by way of issuance of Basel III compliant debt instruments through a public offer or private placement basis.

Ethos fell 1.77%. The company said that it has signed an exclusive retail partnership with Tutima to introduce the revered Glashütte-based brand in India. Through this partnership, Ethos will exclusively retail their sporty and performance-driven timepieces across the country. The selection, to be available from early 2023, will include watches from the sought-after M2 collection, Saxon One, Grand Flieger, and Patria.

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