Nifty drops below 23,650; PSU bank shares decline

The key equity indices continued to trade with significant losses in the mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty slipped below the 23,650 after hitting the day's high of 23,915.35 in the early afternoon trade. PSU bank shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 13:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 569.29 points or 0.72% to 78,129.78. The Nifty 50 index fell 178 points or 0.75% to 23,635.40.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.75% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.90%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,311 shares rose and 2,757 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty PSU bank index fell 1.16% to 6,494.35. The index slipped 2.05% in two consecutive trading sessions.

Indian Bank (down 2.1%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 1.65%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.64%), Bank of India (down 1.55%), Canara Bank (down 1.16%), State Bank of India (down 1.06%), UCO Bank (down 0.88%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 0.64%), Central Bank of India (down 0.62%) and Punjab National Bank (down 0.35%) declined.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 1.64% to 6.898 as compared with the previous close of 6.787.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.5675, compared with its close of 85.4875 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 December 2024 settlement fell 0.10% to Rs 76,470.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.04% to 108.04.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.50% to 4.596.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for the February 2025 settlement declined 19 cents or 0.26% to $73.98 a barrel.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) surged 2.95%, following the government's decision to waive off-bank guarantees for spectrum acquired in past auctions.

Gujarat Fluorochemicals slipped 5.01% after the company reported an incident at its CMS-1 plant in Dahej, Gujarat, on December 28, 2024, which was immediately isolated but temporarily disrupted operation.

Sharika Enterprises hit an upper circuit of 5% after the company received purchase orders worth more than Rs 8 crore from JSW Renew Energy entities for delivering high-quality products and services.

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