The key equity barometers continued to trade with significant losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 17,750 mark. Media, FMCG and PSU bank scrips were in demand while metal, IT and auto shares declined. At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 352.06 points or 0.58% to 60,489.82. The Nifty 50 index lost 94.25 points or 0.53% to 17,758.35. The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.57% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.41%. The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,840 shares rose, and 1,704 shares fell. A total of 200 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.60% to 7.321 from 7.277 previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.63, compared with its close of 82.08 during the previous trading session

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2023 settlement advanced 1.06% to Rs 57,182.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.19% to 103.11.

The United States 10-year bond yield advanced 0.94% to 3.565.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2023 settlement advanced 0.64 cents or 0.80% to $80.58 a barrel.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 0.89% to 1,864.80. The index shed 0.44% in the past trading session.

Sun TV Network (up 2.15%), Dish TV India (up 1.99%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (up 1.52%), Nazara Technologies (up 1.48%), Network 18 Media & Investments (up 0.59%) and Navneet Education (up 0.36%) advanced.

On the other hand, Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 0.32%), PVR (down 0.17%) and Inox Leisure (down 0.07%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Suven Pharmaceuticals rose 1.03%. The company reported 20.09% fall in net profit to Rs 109.46 crore on 11% decline in net sales to Rs 348.49 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

JK Cement declined 0.29%. On a consolidated basis, the cement maker's net profit tumbled 72.7% to Rs 38.99 crore in Q3 FY23 as against Rs 142.71 crore in Q3 FY22. Consolidated net sales stood at Rs 2,432.50 crore in Q3 FY23, rising 19.8% year on year (YoY) from Rs 2,030.49 crore in Q3 FY22

Kolte-Patil Developers tumbled 3.41% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 28.10 crore in Q3 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 7.11 crore in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations increased by 53% YoY to Rs 368.08 crore during the quarter.