Key equity barometers hit fresh intraday low as selling intensified in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 233.96 points or 0.47% to 49,283.15. The Nifty 50 index lost 66.70 points or 0.46% to 14,496.75.

Investors continued to monitor the developments on the US political front as the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on an impeachment motion against President Trump today.

The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.13%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.79%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 1051 shares rose and 1957 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The country's retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 4.59% in the month of December mainly due to decline in food prices. The retail inflation for the month of November was 6.93%.

India's factory output, measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a contraction of 1.9% for November 2020, reverting back to the declining territory after rising in the previous two months, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPI) showed on Tuesday.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 9,16,05,941 with 19,62,345 deaths. India reported 2,14,507 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,51,529 deaths while 1,01,29,111 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.44% to 10,164.40. The index has added 8.37% in five sessions.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 6.26%), Tata Motors (up 2.12%) and Bharat Forge (up 1.47%) advanced.

TVS Motor Company (down 1.30%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.98%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.66%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.52%), Maruti Suzuki (down 0.46%) and Eicher Motors (down 0.40%) declined.

Hero MotoCorp shed 0.57% to Rs 3227.5. The motorcycles & scooters manufacturer, reinforced its presence in Central America by appointing new distributor partners in Nicaragua and Honduras, with expansion plans for both the countries.

Tata Motors advanced 2.25% to Rs 243.15 after the Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q3 FY21, including Jaguar Land Rover, stood at 2.78 lakh units, recording a 1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared with Q3 FY20.

Global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in Q3 FY21 were at 90,365 units, falling 4% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) over Q3 FY20. Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles (PV) in Q3 FY21 stood at 1.88 lakh units, rising 4% Y-o-Y as against Q3 FY20.

Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were at 1.19 lakh units (JLR number for Q3 FY21 includes CJLR volumes of 17,078 units) while Jaguar wholesales for the quarter stood at 22,466 vehicles and Land Rover wholesales for the quarter at 97,192 vehicles.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Filatex India tumbled 4.24% to Rs 67.80. The textile firm's net profit surged 255.63% to Rs 66.04 crore in Q3 FY21 compared with Rs 18.57 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined 2.19% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 721.59 crore. EBITDA stood at Rs 120.2 crore in third quarter as against Rs 55.9 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. EBITDA margin was at 16.65% as on 30 December 2020 compared with 7.57% as on 30 December 2019.

Unichem Laboratories lost 1.13% to Rs 274.50. The company said that it had received ANDA approval for its Celecoxib Capsules, 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). The product is a generic version of Celebrex capsules of G.D. Searle LLC, Division of Pfizer Inc. The capsules are indicated for treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, acute pain and primary dysmenorrhea.

Numbers To Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee appreciated to 73.1950 compared with its previous closing of 73.2550.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.945% as compared to its previous close of 5.931%.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement added 0.63% to Rs 49,352.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, shed 0.05% to 90.42.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement added 28 cents to $56.86 a barrel. The contract gained 1.65% or 92 cents to settle at $56.58 in the previous trading session.

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