Broader mkt underperforms; FMCG shares under pressure

The key equity indices continued to trade with limited cuts in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 24,600 level. FMCG shares declined after advancing in the past two trading sessions. Trading was volatile due to the weekly F&O series expiry today.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 227.02 points or 0.28% to 81,299.12. The Nifty 50 index fell 87.90 points or 0.35% to 24,554.35.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.57% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.91%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,432 shares rose and 2,529 shares fell. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty FMCG index fell 1.01% to 56,194.60. The index added 0.56% in the past two trading sessions.

Hindustan Unilever (down 2.55%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (down 1.57%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 1.49%), Tata Consumer Products (down 1.41%), Britannia Industries (down 1.11%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (down 1.07%), ITC (down 0.74%), Nestle India (down 0.72%), United Breweries (down 0.55%) and Dabur India (down 0.45%) declined.

On the other hand, United Spirits (up 0.58%), Marico (up 0.47%) and Varun Beverages (up 0.44%) edged higher.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 1.82% to 6.840 as compared with the previous close of 6.831.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 84.8650, compared with its close of 84.8300 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 December 2024 settlement rose 0.04% to Rs 78,971.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.14% to 106.56.

The United States 10-year bond yield rose 0.45% to 4.293.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for the November 2024 settlement added 35 cents or 0.48% to $73.87 a barrel. Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Green Energy jumped 6.61% after its step-down subsidiary, Adani Green Energy Twenty Five, commissioned a 250 MW solar power project at Badi Sid, Jodhpur District in Rajasthan.

Gopal Snacks tumbled 7.70% after the firm informed about a significant fire accident that took place at one of its production unit situated at GIDC Metoda, in Gujarat, India on 12 December 2024 around 2:45 PM.

Afcons Infrastructure added 0.36%. The company announced that its joint venture (JV) Afcons-Hindustan has declared the lowest bidder (L1) for water supply project worth Rs 503.85 crore under the government's Jal Jeevan Mission.