The key equity barometers extended their downfall and declined further during the week. The Nifty settled below the 18,300 level. Investor sentiment took a hit after the US Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points and raised its future inflation forecasts. Further, disappointing U.S. retail sales for November suggested inflation is taking a toll on consumers and thereby compounding fears that the Fed's rate hikes could push the world's largest economy into a recession. In the week ended on Friday, 16 December 2022, the Sensex tumbled 843.86 points or 1.36% to settle at 61,337.81. The Nifty 50 index declined 227.6 points or 1.23% to settle at 18,269. The BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.37% to settle at 25,739.21. The BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.14% to settle at 29,516.75. Weekly Index Movement:

Domestic equity benchmark indices ended almost flat on Monday. The Nifty settled a tad below the 18,500 mark after hitting the day's high of 18,521.55 in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 51.10 points or 0.08% to 62,130.57. The Nifty 50 index rose 0.55 points or 0.01% to 18,497.15.

The key equity indices ended near the day's high with strong gains on Tuesday. Favourable domestic economic numbers and positive global cues underpinned investors' sentiment. After opening at 18,524.40 mark, the Nifty 50 index advanced as the session progressed and settled above the 18,600 mark. The barometer index S&P BSE Sensex, gained 402.73 points or 0.65% to 62,533.30. The Nifty 50 index added 110.85 points or 0.60% to 18,608.

The equity benchmark indices advanced on Wednesday, tracking positive Asian stock markets. Asian stocks advanced after the latest U.S. inflation showed that consumer prices rose less than expected in November, signaling that inflationary pressures could be starting to ease. Meanwhile, India's wholesale inflation easing to a 21-month low of 5.85% in November also boosted sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 144.61 points or 0.23% to 62,677.91. The Nifty 50 index added 52.30 points or 0.28% to 18,660.30.

Indian equity market ended with deep losses on Thursday, snapping a two-day rally. Global stock markets tumbled after the US central banks raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 15 years and signaled it will maintain higher rates throughout 2023. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 878.88 points or 1.40% to 61,799.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 245.40 points or 1.32% to 18,414.90.

The domestic equity barometers ended near the day's low amid negative global cues on Friday. The Nifty closed below the 18,300 mark after hitting day's high of 18,440.95 in early trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 461.22 points or 0.75% to 61,337.81. The Nifty 50 index lost 145.90 points or 0.79% to 18,269.

Economy:

India's consumer price inflation moderated to 5.88% in November on an annual basis - marking an 11 month low. The inflation stood at 6.77 per cent in October. The number has dropped within RBI's tolerance band after 10 months. The Food inflation eased sharply to 4.67% in November compared to 7.01% in previous month.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation stated that for the month of October 2022, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011-12 stands at 129.6, marking a 4% drop compared to October 2021. The IIP has turned negative for first time in four months.

The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Index (WPI) number is 5.85% (provisional) for the month of November 2022 over November 2021. WPI inflation rose by 8.39% YoY in October 2022.

Decline in rate of inflation in November, 2022 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, basic metals, textiles, chemicals & chemical products and paper & paper products as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

NTPC gained 0.12%. The state-run power major said that it declared commercial operation of first part capacity of 162.27 megawatt (MW) out of 230 MW Ettayapuram Solar PV project at Tamil Nadu. In an exchange filing, NTPC said that the project was declared on commercial operation with effect from 12:00 hrs of 10 December 2022. Separately, NTPC informed that it has declared commercial operation of second part capacity of 67.73 megawatt (MW) out of 230 MW Ettayapuram Solar PV project at Tamil Nadu.

Tata Motors (TML) advanced 1.91%. The company's board approved partial divestment of the equity shares held by TML in Tata Technologies, a subsidiary of the company, through initial public offering (IPO).

Separately, the company announced that it will be increasing the prices of its commercial vehicles (CV) up to 2% from January 2023. While the price increase will vary as per individual model and variant, it will be applicable across the entire range of commercial vehicles.

ICICI Bank tumbled 3.05%. The private lender said that it has allotted 50,000 senior unsecured redeemable long term bonds in the nature of debentures aggregating to Rs 5,000 crore on private placement basis. The bonds are redeemable at the end of 7 years (redemption date being 12 December 2029). There are no special rights/ privileges attached to the bonds, it said. The bonds carry a coupon of 7.63% p.a. payable annually and were issued at par.

UltraTech Cement slipped 0.94%. The company announced the commissioning of 1.9 mtpa greenfield clinker backed grinding capacity at Pali Cement Works, Rajasthan. The company along with its subsidiary now has 16.25 mtpa cement capacity in Rajasthan spread over 5 separate plant locations. The company's total cement manufacturing capacity in India now stands at 121.35 mtpa.

HDFC Bank rose 0.45%. The private lender on Wednesday announced that it will acquire 7.75% stake in a fintech start-up, Mintoak Innovations (Mintoak) for a total cash consideration of Rs 31.14 crore. Post transaction, HDFC Bank will hold 7.75% stake of the total share capital of Mintoak on a fully diluted basis. The acquisition is likely to be completed by 31 January 2023.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) shed 0.80%. The auto major on Wednesday said that its investment of Rs 10,000 crore for setting up an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in Pune has been approved under the Maharashtra Government's industrial promotion scheme.

Axis Bank added 0.16%. The private lender on Tuesday announced that its board has approved raising Rs 12,000 crore through allotment of non-convertible bonds at a coupon rate of 7.88% p.a. payable annually, on a private placement basis.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) rose 1.03%. The company's board will meet on 20 December 2022 to consider a proposal on investment in major projects.

Coal India (CIL) declined 1.86%. The PSU company said that it has issued letters of acceptance (LoA) for seven coal projects to be pursued through engagement of mine developer and operators (MDO). Cumulatively, these projects have production capacity of close to 100 million tonne per year (MT/Y).

State Bank of India lost 2.13%. The central board of the bank accorded approval for raising capital by way of issuance of Basel III compliant debt instrument in INR and / or any other convertible currency, upto FY24 by raising fresh additional tier-1 (AT-1) capital up to an amount of Rs. 10,000 crore.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) added 0.91%. The company said that its hydrocarbon business L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) has secured two ‘significant' orders for its asset management and AdVENT business verticals. As per L&T's classification, the value of the said contract lies between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore.

Reliance Industries slipped 1.69%. Reliance Digital Health, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has signed definitive agreements with Synchron Inc. to acquire 2.25% stake (on a fully diluted basis) in Synchron Inc. as part of its Series C financing round.

Meanwhile, Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG arm and a fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures, on Thursday (15 December) launched its indigenous made-for-India consumer packaged goods brand, Independence, in Gujarat.

Oil India (up 4.91%) while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) added 4.58%. Oil Explorer stocks were in demand on Friday after the Central Government on Friday (16 December 2022) slashed the windfall tax on petrol, diesel, jet fuel and crude oil following a decline in international rates. The move comes amid a 14% slump in global crude since November. India is the world's third largest consumer and importer of oil.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories fell 2.24% after the company said that Aurigene Oncology, its wholly owned subsidiary will stop the clinical development of INDUS-3, a drug meant to treat psoriasis.

Wipro declined 1.10%. The IT major announced that it has signed five year multi million agreement with Mazda Motor Logistics Europe to deliver managed services for its entire application landscape. Mazda is currently transforming itself into a more centralized organization with harmonized business processes and standardized business capabilities, resulting in reduced cost and complexity.

Global Markets:

Sentiment at Japan's large manufacturers worsened in the fourth quarter, according to the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan business sentiment survey. The headline index for large manufacturers' sentiment came in at 7, a decline from the previous quarter's reading of 8. The index for small manufacturing slightly improved to -2 in the fourth quarter from -4 in the previous quarter.

China's industrial production for November grew 2.2%, after seeing a growth of 5% in October, according to official data. Retail sales fell 5.9% on an annualized basis, further than a fall of 0.5% the previous month.

The U.K. economy grew by 0.5% month-on-month in October, staging a rebound from September's 0.6% contraction. The previous month's figures were affected by a one-off public holiday to mark the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The Bank of England projects that the economy is already in a recession that could endure throughout 2023.

Wholesale prices in the United States rose 7.4% in November from a year earlier. The latest year-over-year figure was down from 8% in October and from a recent peak of 11.7% in March.

The US consumer price index, which measures a wide basket of goods and services, rose just 0.1% from the previous month, and increased 7.1% from a year ago, data from the Labor Department showed.

The US Fed raised its benchmark rate a half-point to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, its highest level in 15 years. The policymakers also forecast that their key short-term rate will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023.

US retail sales fell more than expected in November, but consumer spending remains supported by a tight labor market, with the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreasing by the most in five months last week.

Retail sales fell 0.6 percent last month, the biggest drop since December 2021, after an unrevised 1.3 percent jump in October. Retail sales increased 6.5 percent year-on-year in November.

The biggest decrease in retail sales in 11 months reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday was likely payback after sales surged in October as Americans started their holiday shopping early to take advantage of discounts by businesses desperate to clear excess inventory.