The domestic equity indices traded with moderate losses in the mid- afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 26,250 mark. Oil & Gas shares declined after advancing for previous three consecutive trading session.
At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 374.75 points or 0.44% to 85,392.93. The Nifty 50 index dropped 103.15 points or 0.39% to 26,225.40.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.23% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.09%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,607 shares rose and 2,568 shares fell. A total of 222 shares were unchanged.
Gold surges over Rs 2k, silver shoots up by Rs 9,900 as US takes control in Venezuela:
Gold and silver prices opened sharply higher on Monday, reflecting an intense global rush toward safe-haven assets after the United States’ dramatic intervention in Venezuela over the weekend.
On the MCX, silver futures for March delivery surged by nearly Rs 10,000 per kg in early trade, while gold futures were also firmly up by over Rs 2,000/10 grams.
With global investors seeking refuge in precious metals, both gold and silver continued their upward march in international and domestic markets.
Spot silver surged 4.5% to $75.86 an ounce, while spot gold rose 1.5% to $4,395.35 per ounce, marking a fresh one-week high. U.S. gold futures for February delivery jumped 1.8% to $4,405.40.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index declined 1.22% to 12,189.90. The index rose 2.30% in the previous three consecutive trading session.
Oil India (down 2.32%), Indraprastha Gas (down 1.92%), Adani Total Gas (down 1.8%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.78%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 1.78%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (down 1.64%), GAIL (India) (down 1.52%), Petronet LNG (down 1.48%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 1.28%) and Mahanagar Gas (down 1.14%) declined.
On the other hand, Aegis Logistics (up 1.03%), Gujarat Gas (up 0.91%) and Gujarat State Petronet (up 0.39%) added.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.57% to 6.647 compared with previous session close of 6.609.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 90.2875 compared with its close of 90.2050 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2025 settlement added 1.54% to Rs 137,850.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.28% to 98.70.
The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.43% to 4.173.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2025 settlement shed 81 cents or 0.81% to $59.94 a barrel.