The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade, supported by value buying at lower levels after a sharp decline over the last five trading sessions. The Nifty traded above the 22,550 mark. Consumer durables shares rises after declining in the past two trading sessions.
At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 235.86 points or 0.32% to 74,690.44. The Nifty 50 index added 25.30 points or 0.11% to 22,578.65.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.43% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.25%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,768 shares rose and 2,064 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
The stock market will remain closed tomorrow, 26th February 2025, in observance of Mahashivratri.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Consumer Durables index added 0.61% to 35,600. The index fell 0.7% in the past two trading sessions.
Havells India (up 1.61%), Kajaria Ceramics (up 1.1%), Titan Company (up 0.88%), Blue Star (up 0.72%) and Amber Enterprises India (up 0.68%) were the top gainers. Among the other gainers were Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (up 0.65%), Dixon Technologies (India) (up 0.63%), Bata India (up 0.55%), Voltas (up 0.19%) and Whirlpool of India (up 0.07%) advanced.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper advanced 1.63% to 6.813 as compared with the previous close of 6.813.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 87.1425, compared with its close of 86.7275 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 4 April 2025 settlement were added 0.22% to Rs 86.321.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.01% to 106.66.
The United States 10-year bond yield declined 1% to 4.349.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2025 settlement added 17 cents or 0.23% to $74.95 a barrel.