The benchmark indices witnessed a sharp decline on Thursday, after a four-day rising streak. IT, realty and banks stocks declined while auto, media and consumer durables stocks advanced. The Nifty closed a tad below 17,750 mark after hitting a day's low of 17,655.55 in early afternoon trade.

The selling was triggered by weak global cues amid a steep rise in COVID-19 infections across the globe. The sentiment was also impacted by minutes of US Federal Reserve's last meeting, which signaled the central bank may have to raise interest rates sooner than expected.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 621.31 points or 1.03% at 59,601.84. The Nifty 50 index shed 179.35 points or 1% at 17,745.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.01%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,000 shares rose and 1,389 shares fell. A total of 83 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

India has reported 90,928 cases in the last 24 hours, recording a sharp spike of over 56% in daily new infections. The country's active caseload now stands at 2,85,401. The country also reported 325 deaths. The Omicron tally in country stands at 2,630.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 0.90% to 2,261.65. The index lost 0.44% in the last trading session.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) (up 1.72%), TV18 Broadcast (up 1.64%), PVR (up 1.41%), Sun TV Network (up 0.87%) and Inox Leisure (up 0.20%) were the top gainers in the Media segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NHPC gained 1.75%. The company said that it has signed a promoters agreement with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha (GEDCO) for the formation of a joint venture company. The joint venture company will be formed under the name of Odisha Solar Power Development Company. NHPC will hold 74% stake in JV and the rest will be held by GEDCO. The JV will undertake development of 500 MW floating solar power projects in various water reservoirs in Odisha.

Larsen & Toubro declined 1.30%. On Thursday, the construction major announced that the company's Water & Effluent Treatment business has secured a slew of 'large' orders from various clients. According L&T's classification, the value of 'large' contracts lies between Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

RBL Bank advanced 2.52%. The bank said that its gross advances rose 5% to Rs 59,941 crore as on 31 December 2021 as against Rs 57,092 recorded on 31 December 2020. The deposits have risen by 3.5% as compared with Rs 57,939 crore as on 30 September 2021. Retail advances was flat while wholesale advances grew 8% sequentially for the quarter ended 31 December 2021. The mix of retail to wholesale advances was approximately 53:47,” the private lender said in a statement.

Mahanagar Gas rose 0.15%. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired more than 2% stake in Mahanagar Gas (MGL) via open market transactions. LIC acquired 19,83,001 shares, or 2.007% stake in MGL via market purchase between 20 October 2020 to 4 January 2022. Following the purchase, LIC's stake in MGL has increased to 7.015% from 5.008% earlier.

Spandana Sphoorty Financial skid 2.84%. The NBFC reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 57.9 crore in Q2 FY22 as against a consolidated net profit of Rs 66.7 crore reported in Q2 FY21. Total revenue from operations increased by 14.7% to Rs 395.6 crore in Q2 FY22 from Rs 344.8 crore registered in Q2 FY21. The microfinance institution posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 71.5 crore in Q2 FY22 as against a profit before tax of Rs 91.4 crore reported in Q2 FY21.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals fell 0.10%. The pharmaceutical major said it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Entacapone tablets USP, 200 mg. The approved ANDA is therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Comtan tablets (200 mg) of Orion Corporation. The drug is indicated as an adjunct to levodopa and carbidopa to treat end-of-dose wearing-off in patients with Parkinson's disease. Entacapone tablets USP, 200 mg have an estimated market size of $10.5 million for twelve months ending September 2021 according to IQVIA.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia tumbled on Thursday as traders geared up for potentially tighter U.S. monetary policy. Activity in China's services sector expanded at a faster pace in December, a private sector survey showed on Thursday. The Caixin/ Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.1 in December from 52.1 in November.

Japan's services sector activity expanded at a slower pace in December. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to a seasonally adjusted 52.1 from the prior month's 53.0, which was the highest reading since August 2019.

Minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's December meeting released Wednesday showed the central bank has discussed reducing its balance sheet shortly after it raises rates later this year. The minutes show officials to be considering shrinking the balance sheet along with raising rates as another way to remove policy accommodation. The Fed also signaled it could get more aggressive in raising rates.

Fed officials said repeatedly during the meeting that they believe ultra-easy policies instituted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic were no longer warranted or justified. Addressing the key pillars of their dual goals, committee members expressed concern over surging inflation while saying they see the jobs market at close to full employment.

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